Ash Ketchum: Superman
by BigD1987
Summary: Ash Ketchum is your seemingly ordinary Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town...or is he? He has a secret. One that could save us all...
1. Prologue

Ash Ketchum: Superman

A Pokemon and Superman crossover story

This story is my creation, where Ash Ketchum, the lovable main character of the TV series Pokemon is in fact and alien from a planet called Krypton. It is an Action/Adventure story with romance in it that combines the characters and story of the show Pokemon with elements of the legendary franchise Superman.

Note: "Superman" is a registered trademark of DC Comics, and is only being used as a means of entertainment. There is also a quote that comes directly from the tv series "Smallville".

"Pokemon" is a registered trademark owned by Nintendo USA, The Pokemon Company and Warner Borthers, and is only being used for entertainment.

* * *

-Ash/Kal-El/Superman: 15 yrs old

-Misty: 15

-Brock: 19

* * *

Ash Ketchum is your average 15-year-old Pokemon trainer. He is the head of a crew of Gym Leaders and is one of the top-ranked trainers in the country. Ash is from Pallet Town, a small town of about 1,000 where he has since become its favorite son. Only he wasn't born there. Nor was he born anywhere near Pallet. Nor was he born in his home country. In fact, he wasn't even born on this planet! He's really from a distant planet called Krypton. His father, Jor-El, who was a leading scientist on Krypton, discovered that the planet was doomed, since the star it orbited was about to go into supernova. Unable to convince the Elders, who ruled the planet which had a civilization and technology thousands of years advanced than that of Earth's, to evacuate, he decided that the only way to save Krypton was to send his infant son, Kal-El, to Earth. Kal-El's ship escaped Krypton just as the exploding supernova, killing the 6 billion inhabitants of Krypton in an instant, destroyed the planet.

For a year, little Kal-El's ship sped through space, and reached our planet, Earth, and crash- landed outside Pallet. A young woman passing by saw the ship crash, and went to investigate. She was 21-year old Delia Ketchum. When she found little Kal-El in the ship, her motherly instincts took over, and she decided to adopt him, naming him "Ashton", or "Ash" for short.

Young Ash didn't know of his origins, until one day, at the age of 5, he sneezed-and blew the leaves off a tree and the feathers of an entire flock of Pidgeot. Soon, he discovered his other powers-strength 100 times greater than that of Hercules, Samson, Gilgamesh and Finn McCool combined, X-Ray and heatvision, as well as the ability to see incredibly far distances at will, hearing so powerful he could hear a flea sucking the blood of a dog many miles away, the afore-mentioned breath that could even blow out a star, incredible running speed so fast that he could run 3000 miles in 10 minutes, invincibility, so that nothing could harm him, and finally, flight and the ability to leap so far and so high that he could jump from Nepal over Mt. Everest into Tibet. Despite the fact that she knew her young boy was not of this world, Delia was astonished at the young boy's abilities and turned to her college professor and old friend, Professor Samuel Oak for answers. Oak, who was usually a Pokemon researcher, agreed to do so, and discovered Ash's Kryptonian origins by translating the text on the capsule Ash came in. It said, in Kryptonian, "This is Kal-El of Krypton, our infant son, our last hope. Please protect him and deliver him from evil. We will be with you, Kal-El, for all the days of your life."

When Ash turned nine, he had been greatly considering to become a Pokemon trainer for several years and was already fascinated with Pokemon, when he was told the truth: even though he was raised as a human, he was not one of them. He was Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. However, this still did not shatter his world. Instead, he remained optimistic and decided to focus his efforts on becoming the greatest Pokemon Master of all time and to use his powers only for truth and justice. At the age of 12 he received his first Pokemon, a Pikachu that at first didn't like him, but eventually warmed up to Ash, and the two became good friends. Along the way, Ash met Misty Waterflower, a feisty, red-haired girl from Cerulean City who trained Water Pokemon-and whom Ash ended up falling in love with-and Brock Harrison, who wanted to become a Pokemon breeder. At 14, after conquering the Orange League, Ash decided to start using his powers, and became Superman - although he hadn't come up with a name yet-the Man of Steel, a crusader for truth and justice. Yet he kept his public persona, the cocky, energetic and sometimes timid Ash Ketchum. And now, our story begins...


	2. Summer City

Ash Ketchum: Superman

A Pokemon and Superman story

Note: Pokemon is a registered trademark of Nintendo International, Nintendo Japan, Nintendo USA, and The Pokemon Company. Superman is a registered trademark of DC Comics and the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Both names are not being used for profit, and are being used only for entertainment.

* * *

-Ash: 15

-Misty: 15

-Brock: 19

Note: Ash and Misty are the same ages because I cannot stand the possibility of Misty being a year older than Ash

* * *

"ASH KETCHUM, YOU GOT US LOST AGAIN!!" Screamed an angry Misty. Scenes like this were common during Ash's journey.

"Well, sor-ry, but I still know where I'm going! And I wouldn't be lost if you weren't complaining all the time!" Yelled Ash.

"Oh really? Then why have we passed that pond seven times?" She yelled back, pointing at a nearby pond.

"That's becuz you think we have!" He yelled back.

"Could you two please stop fighting?" Brock asked.

"Pika Pika!" Ash's Pikachu said, as an agreement.

"NO!!!" Ash and Misty yelled back in unison, the force of Ash's breath sending Brock back a bit. In reality, despite the fact that they fought almost constantly, Ash and Misty each had secret crushes on each other-but didn't have the guts to say anything.

"Look, just give me the map, Ash. I'll get us outta here." Brock said. Ash took a while to think, and then relented.

Ash's Pikachu came up to him, and said in his native tongue a statement that translated into English is: "I guess you finally decided to let someone else try."

"Oh well, you can't win 'em all." Ash replied, perfectly understanding his faithful partner. Thanks to Brock, the group managed to find a town with a Pokemon Center so that they could spend the night there. The town, known as Summer City, was a medium-sized city with several high-rise buildings that made up its skyline. The Pokemon Center was located in the middle of downtown. It was located in a building that had been built in the 1990s, was about 7 stories tall and even included a full staff of surgeons in case of anything that required surgery. As they approached the doors, Brock, well, he sprinted in and began doing what he always does-flirting with Nurse Joy.

"O Nurse Joy, you're looking oh so beauti-GAAHHH!!!" At that point, Misty grabbed his ear and dragged him away, saying,

"I am getting so tired of having to keep you in line, for God's sake!" Ash ignored the ruckus and walked up to the counter.

"I need a room, or multiple rooms for three people, and I also need you to heal our Pokemon." He said, handing the group's Poke Balls, Pikachu and Togepi to Nurse Joy.

"Sure thing," she said, typing a few things on the computer. "We have two rooms available. One with a bunk bed and one with a single bed." Ash had to deliberate on what they were going to do. Should he take the single room, or share a room with Brock, or Misty. For some reason, he decided to share a room with Misty (try to guess why). "Okay, then, just let me have your Pokemon, and I'll have them looked after. "She flashed her sweet smile as she said this. At this moment, Brock rushed up, knocked Ash out of the way and began flirting with Nurse Joy again. Ash, who was understandably pissed off, gave him a punch. A weak punch, mind you, for his strength, but still enough to knock Brock back a bit.

"That's what you get for knocking me down!" Ash said. Brock looked at him funny, and Ash looked around. Everybody else was staring at him. Reacting, he fake laughed, and said, obviously lying, "I guess I don't know my own strength!" Everybody else looked as they were saying, "right…" and went back to what they were doing.

Later that afternoon, Ash, Brock and Misty decided to take a walk through town. However, they discovered this would be no ordinary walk. This one would change their lives forever.

"Oh, man, I'm hungry!" Ash said, his stomach growling. When Misty heard his stomach growling, she got hungry, too.

"Apparently, hunger is contagious", she said, joking around.

"There's a place to eat somewhere around here," Brock said. "I think it's a couple blocks that way." He pointed west, in the direction of the restaurant.

The establishment was apparently one of the more popular locations in town. It was a more casual restaurant that served what the locals considered to be the best pizza in town. After having to drag Brock away from their attractive waitress, the group got a booth near a window. Ash and Misty sat next to each other, while Brock looked at the menu. Out of the blue, Brock just said, "So Ash, you and Misty are sharing a room, right?" The two people being mentioned suddenly perked up and looked at Brock strangely.

"Um, yeah, why?" Ash asked.

"Well, why would you?" Ash was turning as red as a tomato. So was Misty. If you were there, you'd be laughing your ass off watching this.

"Well, I um, uh, uh," Ash stammered to get his words out, tying to explain why. He didn't want to mention his feelings for Misty just yet. "I just-" Lucky for him, the pizza got there. "Saved by the food!" He said. Misty looked at him suspiciously. But, she decided to drop it, because she was just as hungry as him.

Along the way back to the Pokemon Center, they stumbled onto a heist perpetrated by Team Rocket, an evil organization dedicated to global domination. Hoping not to get involved, the three tried to slip away, but the Rocket in charge of the operation saw them.

"Hey you!" He yelled out them.

"Uh-oh. RUN!!!" Yelled Ash, but it was too late. Before they could do anything, several Rockets chased after them and grabbed Misty before she could even put up a fight.

"ASH!!!" Misty yelled.

"MISTY!!!!" Ash couldn't take the possibility of the girl he secretly loved getting harmed in any way. He reached for a Poke Ball, but he couldn't find any. Then he remembered he left them back at the Pokemon Center to be healed. What could he do? Then he remembered something else that he could do. Do to so, he feigned cowardice and ducked into a dark alley and made sure nobody could see him…

"Somebody help me, please!!" Yelled Misty, whose hand and feet were bound and had a gun to her head.

She was scared s---less.

"Anybody tries any funny business and the red-haired wench gets a bullet in her head!" he said, pushing the gun to her forehead. Misty's eyes widened in terror. Then somebody tried to do something to help her, but was shot by the Rocket and was killed. Misty was now terrified beyond belief as the head Rocket, now with an evil sneer on his face, pointed the gun to her forehead. She feared for her life as she squeezed her eyes shut, thinking a million different things and saying 10 different prayers at the same time. For some reason, which she still doesn't know why she did it, she said, "Ash…" in her mind. Just as the Rocket was about to squeeze the trigger, she heard him say, "Die…" and prepared for the worst…


	3. The Rescuer

Ash Ketchum: Superman

Okay, NOW we get to see Superman (Ash's superhero alter ego) for the first time, both in action and not in action. If you want to know what his superhero costume looks like, Iit's Superman's standard costume. All right, we're starting where we left off, all right? This chapter is written in 3rd person, but is technically from Misty's POV, since she's the main protagonist of this chapter. By the way, sorry for cutting you all off at the end of chapter one, but I think I've got something good: I got nervous when Misty had that gun to her head. If the author is nervous during a tense scene, then you know the work is good.

Note: Same as the last two chapters of Ash Ketchum: Superman, basically saying that I don't own the copyrights for Superman and Pokemon.

* * *

-Ash/Kal-El/Superman: 15

-Misty: 15

-Brock: 19

* * *

Previously: "Anybody tries any funny business and the red-haired wench gets a bullet in her head!" he said, pushing the gun to her forehead. Misty's eyes widened in terror. Then somebody tried to do something to help her, but was shot by the Rocket and was killed. Misty was now terrified beyond belief as the head Rocket, now with an evil sneer on his face, pointed the gun to her forehead. She feared for her life as she squeezed her eyes shut, thinking a million different things and saying 10 different prayers at the same time. For some reason, which she still doesn't know why she did it, she said, _Ash..._ in her mind. Just as the Rocket was about to squeeze the trigger, she heard him say, "Die..." and prepared for the worst...

But the shot never came. Instead, she heard someone saying, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!!" When she opened her eyes, she was amazed at what she saw: a blue object taking out the Rockets. She was amazed. He fought with such intensity and grace that she was in awe. The only thing she could say at that point was "Wow." As she watched, she noticed that the bullets the Rockets were shooting at him bounced off of him like an arrow bounces off armor. Finally, partially because she was amazed at what she was seeing and the fact that she was exhausted, she fainted-for about 7 minutes-after seeing her rescuer confront the Rocket who had held the gun to her head, who was shooting at him, with no luck at all.

When Misty came to, she couldn't believe her eyes. Standing before her was a young man. But this was not just any ordinary man. He was dressed in blue tights that had a 2-D shield with a red "S" on it over a field of yellow that was also slightly dark and was inside a red border, a yellow belt with an oval for the belt buckle on it. He was wearing red, well, briefs over the tights. He was wearing red boots that came up to his knees that had an inward point in the middle of the shin. His sleeves went down to wrists. His neckline was a crew-neck cut (Where it just goes to the bottom of the neck and it looks like you're wearing a t-shirt) and Misty noticed something else that she had missed, but was pretty obvious to every on else-he was wearing a redcape that nearly went down to his knees. She went back to his muscle-defined chest (she's attracted!) and noticed that the shield didn't even go down to his abdominal muscles; it was just in his pectorals. The first thing she thought about when she saw him was, _He's handsome, although he looks like Ash. Could he be? Nah._ She couldn't believe that her friend could be this man.

"Are you alright?" The stranger asked, knocking Misty out of her trance.

"Yeah, sure." She said, still looking at her costumed savior. _This couldn't be Ash_, she thought. _He's confident, but not… cocky. And his voice is deeper. It's not Ash. He wouldn't save me himself, much less dress like this._ But unconsciously, she asked out loud, "Ash?"

"Who is he?" The stranger asked. "I've never heard of this 'Ash' of whom you speak."

"Oh, sorry, it's just that you look like him." She said.

"That's okay. Looks like you saw some excitement." He said.

"Yeah…" She said, still in her daze.

"Well, It's all over now. Officer?" He turned to Officer Jenny, the lead investigator. "Have this girl taken to the hospital just in case she's suffered any serious injuries," he said motioning to Misty, "and get these men out of here." he said, motioning to the Rockets who were all now handcuffed. Officer Jenny saluted him and he saluted back. He turned to both Jenny and Misty and said, "Well, I'm off. Carry on here, officer." He said as he took off in the most unusual way: he flew. Misty was astonished.

_Is he __flying_ She thought. _Now I've seen everything!_ And fainted again.

End chapter.

Sorry if this chapter's too damn short. The next one will be longer.


	4. Misty's Flight

Ash Ketchum: Superman

A Pokemon and Superman Story

All right, last time we were introduced to Superman, who is Ash's alter ego. If I were going to name this chapter, I'd call it "Misty's flight" because she goes flying with Ash/Superman. As with the previous chapter, I'm starting where I left off, only I'm not using an entire paragraph to introduce the story, so you're going to have to read the previous chapter to know what happens. Again, if you want to know what Ash's Superman outfit looks like, you have to know Superman and/or you had to have seen _Superman Returns_. And I'd also like it if someone could draw some of my scenes, please. I'll try to be as descriptive as possible. I'm sorry the last two chapters felt a little rushed, but I'm going to try and slow things down here, all right? There might even be a little extra at the end…

Okay, here's something I want to clear up. Just so you know, there IS a difference between Ash's appearance and Superman's appearance. Although the two are the same person, there are differences between them. Physically, Ash is about (I think) 5'4", and seems to weigh about 150 lbs and has the appearance we all know about, Superman is 6'4", is well-built and weighs 225 lbs. and has the appearance of what Ash would look like around the age of twenty. He also has well-groomed hair and has a little curl of hair on his forehead. (Yes, it is connected to the rest of his hair) Do NOT ask me why this is, even I can't explain, all right? It's just a way to prevent the other characters from suspecting Ash is Superman, okay? I can NOT have Superman be Ash in blue tights with the same height, same build and same hairdo, because that would give it away. In terms of demeanor, Ash is slightly immature, even though he is losing that since he is 15, he's cocky, he acts dense (since Superman's the smartest being on Earth, the guy who he disguises himself as has to be stupid in some way), he's kinda reckless, and in this story, he's also somewhat cowardly at times and he's kinda clumsy, too, (The inspiration for that came from Clark Kent, who really is the real Superman, who is, as they say, a mild-mannered newspaper reporter) while Superman is confident, calm, and not quick to make any rash decisions. In other words, they're technically the opposite of each other. While you may THINK that Superman is a mask for Ash to do some superhero work, or vise-versa, I'm not going to do this. They are the same person, and that is how it will be portrayed.

Note: Again, the publishing rights for Superman belong to DC Comics, and the publishing rights for Pokemon belong to Nintendo and the Pokemon Company. This is a not-for-profit story.

* * *

-Ash/Kal-El/Superman: 15

-Misty: 15

-Brock: 19

* * *

When Misty woke up, she realized immediately where she was. _Well, he did tell Officer Jenny to take me to the hospital._ The red-haired girl thought. Just then…

"MISTY!!!" Startled, Misty jumped, but saw who it was: Ash and Brock. Ash looked like he had some tears in his eyes and he just ran right over to her and gave her a big bear hug. Misty was surprised at first and even blushed a little, but she returned the embrace.

"Are you okay?" Ash said

"Yeah, I guess." Answered Misty.

"Thank God!" He said very sincerely.

"By the way, where were you?" She asked, not knowing that her blue-clad savior was in fact Ash, who didn't want her to know just yet. So he devised a scheme: play the sympathy card. To make it real, he started crying.

"What's wrong?" Misty inquired.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been there. When I saw what happened, I ducked out of the way into an alley (in a way, he's telling the truth). God, I'm such a COWARD!!!" he yelled, punching the wall and not trying to damage it in any way. Misty, who CAN be very sympathetic, fell for it, and tried to comfort him without leaving the hospital bed.

"There, there, it's okay, you admitted it and you're sorry for it. That's all that matters." She whispered, her arms around him. Ash smirked inside. He didn't want to deceive to the girl he was in love with, but it was the only way to protect his identity. Of course Ash couldn't help but say

"What happened?"

Misty paused, and said, "I'm not exactly sure. All I remember is having my arms and legs bound and some Rocket threatening to kill me and nearly having that threat carried out. I just felt this intense terror and the fear that I was going to die," Ash's heart sank, now knowing how she must have felt before he rescued her "then, something amazing happened. This person, who I thought was an angel at first, started beating up the Rockets and tossing them aside like they were dolls. Also, they were shooting at him, but the bullets bounced off him like dry spitballs, but just as he was getting to the Rocket who had the gun to my head, I blacked out. When I came to, he was standing right over me and asked if I was okay. We exchanged a few words and then he left in the most unusual way."

"How?" Ash and Brock asked, Ash trying to act surprised.

"He flew away."

"FLEW!?"

"Yes, and unfortunately, I didn't get to thank him." Ash somehow knew this was his other side's cue and said

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, but I gotta go check on the Pokemon at the Pokemon Center."

"Okay, Ash, but there's another thing I need to tell you." Ash obliged and stopped. "For some reason, he looked just like you." Ash didn't even flinch, but Brock was amazed. "But he said I must have been mistaken. He said that I must have had him confused with you. Or something like that. But in the end, I felt it wasn't you because his voice wasn't cocky like yours, and it was deeper. And his hair looked gelled and he had this curl on his forehead that looked a _little_ like an s." Ash smiled, knowing that he had to leave.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Misty." He said to her.

"See you tomorrow," she said "goodnight." She whispered as Ash left.

After 30 minutes, Officer Jenny came in with a doctor, carrying something in her hand. "Misty Waterflower?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"I have something here for you." She handed the thing she was carrying to Misty. It was a note that said:

"Misty-meet me on the hospital roof-A Friend." Misty was at first confused, but then realized why the doctor was there-to authorize her leaving her room. The doctor and Misty had a silent conversation, which was basically Misty looking at him as if to say, "can I?" and the doctor nodding his head. Misty got up from the bed and changed into her regular clothes and headed for the stairway and soon made it on to the roof. But there was nobody there. But, she decided to wait a few minutes. After 10 minutes, she was getting impatient, but she soon heard a familiar voice that said,

"Good evening." She spun around, her hair whipping in that direction because in her haste, she had forgotten to put her hair in her signature side ponytail.

"Hi," she said to her blue-and reddish-maroon clad savior. "I never got to thank you for what you did earlier today."

"That's why I came." His warm voice was soothing her. Misty couldn't help but ask,

"Why did you save me?" He chuckled at her question.

"Because you were in trouble," he replied. "That's a silly question, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess." She replied. To her alarm, he started to leave. Wait, don't go!" She pleaded. It seemed to work. He stopped and turned to her and smiled gently. "Just wait," she said as she came up to him. "Who are you?" She asked.

"If you must know, here it is. My name is Kal-El. I'm from the planet Krypton, which was destroyed years ago when the star it orbited went into a supernova. I am the last survivor."

"Bummer." She said, drawing closer to him, she said, "When I saw you fight those Rockets, you looked like some kind of…super man there." She told him. He looked intrigued.

"Superman…" he said as Misty wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She noticed that there were many tiny emblems emblazoned on his own emblem and his suit seemed to be of a webbed fiber, which couldn't be noticed from a distance. Little did Misty know but she was up in the air, but was too distracted with his handsome features to know. But she found out when she heard a Pidgey squawk and he jumped back to reality, wrapping her arms around him tight. Her company-well, Superman, as she called him, chuckled. "Just hold on tightly," He said "and you'll be fine." She obeyed his suggestion and held on to him tight as she could. Unfortunately, that didn't do much good as she slipped and plummeted 100 feet before he caught her and carried her bridal style for a while until she got the hang of flying, and with that, they flew off.

When she got the hang of flying, he let her try. He extended his arm out to his side while she was still holding on. She carefully got to a position that mimicked his, with her arms extended out like wings. Misty loved flying; the wind in her face, the feeling of freedom and the security of her blue-clad savior, with whom she was falling in love with. The view was spectacular. She could see the mountains, lights of Goldenrod City, Violet City and Ecruteak City as well as most of the Johto region, parts of Kanto and Hoenn. _This is wonderful…_ she thought. While the two of them flew through the night, she began to think, _can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are. Just a friend from another star. Here I am, like a kid out of school. Holding hands with a god. I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering. Like a little girl, shivering. You can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are... all the wonderful things you are. You can fly. You belong in the sky. You and I... could belong to each other. If you need a friend... I'm the one to fly to. If you need to be loved... here I am. Read my mind._ She wished this moment would never end. Unfortunately, her ride came to an end soon and her savior; Ash/Superman set her down on the hospital roof. A saddened Misty asked him, "Will I ever see you again?" Ash/Superman told her,

"I'm always around." He was about to leave, but she grabbed his arm, wisely avoiding his cape.

"I…still haven't had the chance to really thank you." She said, her face nearing his. Ash understood this, and in a way, his "Ash" side took over, and leaned in and in an instant, their lips met.

For Misty, the feeling was heavenly. _Wow._ She said for the fifteenth time today, the last times she said it was during her flight, as she kissed Superman and he kissed her back. Ash/Superman on the other hand, was so excited he could barely contain himself.

_Ho, ly, Crap, I'm actually KISSING her!!!_ The 15-year-old Kryptonian thought in a very rare lapse of composure._I can't believe this is actually happening!!! This is the best night of my life!!!_ The two kissed passionately for several minutes before they broke the kiss and embraced. Then Ash flew off and Misty left the scene, now on a natural high that she felt no drug could top. She was in love with her savior, Superman, and he loved her back. Too bad she didn't tell him, but she felt the kiss was good enough. When she got back to her hotel room, reporters and cameras, which were asking her questions, suddenly swarmed her but there were so many being asked that she had no idea what they were saying. Luckily the doctor told the reporters that she couldn't answer any questions and she had been released. She gathered up her things and left the hospital and headed for the Pokemon Center. On the way, she looked at a clock that said 11:15.

"11:15? I gotta get to bed!" She said out loud, racing towards the Center. As she ran, thoughts of "Superman" ran through her head. She was in love. And she liked it.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location…

"Grrr! How could my elite grunts be defeated so easily!? I want that man dead!"

Ash had gotten back to the Center at 11:00, and managed to avoid detection as he changed from his superhero persona, whom he was going to call "Superman" from now on, since Misty was the first one to call him that. Emotionally, he was like Misty at this moment-on a high that no drug, legal or illegal could top-as he was now revealed to at least this city, and soon, the whole world, but he had also kissed the girl he loved so deeply. When he got to the room he and Misty were sharing (wink, wink), he laid down on the bed, unaware that Pikachu had seen him transform from Superman. However, that didn't matter. He had saved the lives of thirty people, including the girl he couldn't live without, had gone on a technical date with her, and even kissed her, He touched his finger to his lips, where just minutes before, had the lips of an angel on them. Tired out by the day's events, Ash Ketchum, A.K.A. Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton, fell asleep with a smile on his face, blissfully unaware of the events to come that would nearly bring him to his knees, but would make him a legend around the world…

End chapter

Some foreboding at the end! Hope you liked it; becuz there's plenty more to come!


	5. The Day After

Ash Ketchum: Superman

A Pokemon/Superman story

Well, I hope everybody liked the last chapter! I hope you'll like the fact that it didn't feel TOO rushed. The first two chapters were kind of short because I wanted a blasted cliffhanger at the end of the first chapter. Just don't get pissed off at me for it, all right? Good. Again, the foreboding at the end of chapter 3 means that this one might go on for a while, so be frickin' patient with it. Besides, I got more important things to worry about.

Note: This is a not-for-profit story. _Pokemon_ is a registered trademark of Nintendo USA, The Pokemon Company and Warner Bros., and is a creation of Satoshi Tajiri. _Superman_ is a registered trademark of DC Comics and Warner Bros., and is the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Ages:

Ash/Kal-El/Superman (they're all the same guy, all right?): 15

Misty: 15

Brock: 19

"Caped Wonder Stops Heist, Saves 30," read Ash, from the front page of a newspaper. "Wow. This must be the guy you were talking about, Misty." He said, pointing at a picture of himself (as Superman).

"Let me see!" Said Brock. "Hey Ash, he does look a bit like you!" He said, remembering what Misty said about him.

"Only he's taller, and he looks older," said Misty, "plus, his hair is well-groomed." She said, looking at Ash and mocking him only a little bit.

"Oh, yeah." Said Brock. At the same time, everyone else on the street was looking at the same story in their copies of the newspaper, their eyes as wide as basketballs, some even wider.

"I wonder what his name is." Said Ash.

"He said his name is Kal-El and he's from a distant planet called Krypton. He said he got his powers from our sun." Said Misty. (Note: Misty asked him how he could fly the previous night and he told her. I didn't feel like mentioning it in the previous chapter.)

"How did you know that?" said Ash, feigning surprise, knowing that he already told her.

"I met him last night." Said Misty. "He also said that he was the only survivor of that planet." She said.

"That stinks," said Brock. He couldn't help but be nosy and ask, "What else did you do with him?"

"I flew around with him," she said somewhat dreamily, Ash feigning jealousy at the same time. "And that's about it." She said after seeing Ash's face, fearing that he might get REALLY mad if she mentioned the fact that she kissed him.

"Why do you think he's here?" Asked Brock.

"Well since he did save you Misty, I think he's here to help others, using his powers, whatever they may be, to do so." Said Ash.

"You know Ash, I think you may be right," said Misty, putting her index finger up to her chin and looking up in a thoughtful manner while she said it. "I mean, why else would he be here? If he was here to conquer, he would've done it by now."

"I think you're right." Said Ash.

"With all those powers, he's like a Superman." Noted Misty

"You mean the _Übermensch_ that Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about?" asked Brock, getting a nasty look from Ash.

"No, not that kind," said Misty. "That one means _beyond_human. Kal-El isn't even human, despite having the same appearance. The_Übermensch_uses what's called the 'Will to Power' for destruction of the old ideals. Kal-El doesn't seem to be interested in that."

"Maybe that could be his name, Superman!" Ash said to Brock and Misty, fully embracing the name Misty gave to his other side.

"You know, I did say that about him when I was with him last night. I told him that he looked like some kind of superman." Said Misty.

"I wonder what powers he has?" Said Brock.

"Flight, obviously." Said Misty.

"Super strength." Suggested Ash.

"Super sight." Added Misty.

"Maybe super-hearing?" Said Ash.

"Possibly." Replied Misty.

"Someone's gonna have to talk to this guy about it." Said Ash, not wanting to raise suspicion to himself if he listed all of his own powers.

"Maybe I could do it for the _Cerulean Times_!" Exclaimed Misty. (Note: in this story, she's a guest writer for the Cerulean City newspaper, which I've named the _Cerulean Times._)

"What!?" Said Ash, pretending to be jealous.

"Is that a hint of jealousy I hear?" Misty asked slyly.

"Um…no." Suddenly…

"HELP! FIRE!" Yelled someone. The three turned and saw a high-rise building in flames.

"Oh my God!" Yelled Brock.

"Thunderin' Jaysus!" Yelled Ash.

"This looks like a job for you-know-who!" Said Misty. Ash knew this was his cue.

"I'll go call the fire department. You two stay here." He said.

"Okay, then." Said Misty.

"Do that!" added Brock. And Ash ran away (Not in a cowardly sense, alright?). Ash ran a good distance and found just what he was looking for-a phone booth with tinted windows. He called the fire department from the phone booth, and then removed his cap…

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" Yelled the woman trapped in the burning building. The fire department was already there, since it didn't take very long (firefighters have to be ready to go at a moment's notice, so as soon as they heard that call, they went into action immediately) for them to get there. Unfortunately, the flames were too intense, meaning that the firefighters couldn't get to her. A crowd had gathered near the building, and several news crews were there as well. Suddenly, there was an explosion, and the woman was thrown out of the window by the force of the explosion, now screaming loudly. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something blue flying towards her. Ash flew as fast as he could towards the burning building and saw the woman fall. Once he saw this, he reached his arms out and managed to catch her and calmly said,

"Easy miss, I've got you." He said as he stopped in mid-air.

"You've got me? WHO'S GOT YOU?" She replied, obviously surprised. He turned his attention towards the flames. He took a big breath and blew out the fire like it was birthday candles. The crowd, though amazed at what they saw, was cheering loudly as Superman and the woman touched ground.

"Alright, Superman!" Yelled Misty, hoping the news crews heard her. He set the woman down on the ground, and said to the paramedics,

"Gentlemen, make sure she's okay." The paramedics rushed to the woman's side and led her to the ambulance. As she was led to the ambulance, she yelled "thank you" to Superman, which he acknowledged. Several journalists approached him, and one asked,

"Excuse me sir, but what's your name?" Superman looked and found Misty in the crowd. He calmly said,

"Superman." Using the name that she had coined.

"Great!" the reporter who asked the question said, him and the others writing it down on their note pads. "Can I ask why you're here?" Superman politely replied,

"You know, I think I'll save that for another time, place and person." He said as he winked at Misty. She blushed at his comment. "Well, I'm off." He said, and took off. The reporters gathered their notes and called their respective newspapers, saying things like,

"Chief, I got the biggest story for you since Jesus calmed the sea," among other things. The crowd started to thin out, although people were still talking amongst each other, saying, "Did you see that?" "That was incredible." "Did you see how he caught her?" Soon, it was just Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Togepi who were left. Then Ash showed up a minute after the crowd had thinned out, panting heavily, obviously from running.

"So what did I miss?" He said.

Pikachu yelled, obviously astounded, in his Pikachu language what is translated into English as: "there was this big explosion! The woman in the building fell but Superman saved her! Then he blew out the fire!"

"He did WHAT!?"

"You heard what he said, Ash. Too bad you missed it." Said Misty.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied, pretending to be disappointed, trying to keep them from knowing that it was he who did that.

"Alright, I've had enough excitement for one day. What do you say we get out of here?" Said Brock.

"You mean leave town?" Asked Misty.

"Yep." He replied.

"Okay. But I gotta mail something first." Ash said, clutching a piece of paper.

"Alright, we'll meet you at the Pokemon Center and then leave." Said Misty.

"Okay, see you guys at the Center!" He said, running away.

"What is he mailing?" Said Brock.

"I don't care, and I don't want to know. Mail is private business for people. It's best we not ask." Said Misty.

"You're right." Said Brock.

Ash went to city hall and presented something to an attendant in the lobby, and said, "excuse me miss, but could you make sure this gets to the mayor?"

"Sure," The attendant replied. "We'll have it to him soon."

"Okay, thanks!" Yelled Ash as he left. The attendant didn't even bother to read what was in the note.

5 minutes later, Ash arrived at the Pokemon Center. After they had lunch (This chapter took place in the morning, just so you know.) After checking to see if they had everything, the three travelers left. Brock, his mind bugging him about Ash's note, could not help but ask, "so Ash, what did you mail?" Ash and Misty glared at him for asking that, and he quickly apologized, saying it was none of his business. As they left, Misty and Brock were thinking about-guess who-Superman. Ash, meanwhile, was looking forward to the next city, and to some alone time with Misty (not in a perverted way, dammit! I meant the romantic kind, alright?)…

"Mr. Mayor, this note just came in for you." The secretary told the mayor through the intercom.

"Alright, give it to me." He already had some people in his office discussing this "Superman" character. When he got the note, he noticed that the envelope said, "To the mayor of Summer City. From, a Friend." The mayor opened the envelope and read the note inside. It said:

"Dear Mr. Mayor-I must inform you that I will be leaving your fine city. It has treated me well, and I thank you for your hospitality. Where I am going next, I cannot say. I am not leaving because I do not like your city-it is a beautiful city-but I believe that I am needed elsewhere. Who knows? Maybe I'll come back here some day. Thank you for having me here. Sincerely, Superman." The mayor put down the note, and said,

"Well, Superman, it was mighty fine having you."

"Oh man, it's great to breathe some fresh air." Ash said, now that they were in the countryside.

"I wonder why that guy was here?" asked Misty, her mind filled with thoughts of you-know-who.

"Who knows? But I think what he's doing." Said Brock.

"Yeah, me too." Said Ash. _I'm really glad you appreciate my services. I just hope that the next town will. I just hope the mayor of Summer City doesn't hold it against me now that I'm gone. _He thought, looking forward to the previously mentioned alone time with Misty and the future for Superman.

---------------------End chapter------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, how'd you like it? I know that it's been a while, but I've been busy, what with school and all. I'll get to work on the next chapter real soon, so stay tuned!


	6. Jesse and James Attack

Ash Ketchum: Superman

A Pokemon/Superman Story

Note: Superman is the creative property of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, and is the copyright of DC Comics and Warner Bros.

Pokemon is the creative property of Satoshi Tajiri, and the copyright of Warner Bros., the Pokemon Company and Nintendo USA.

_To Kill a Mockingbird _is the creative property Harper Lee and is copyrighted and published by HarperCollins.

This is a not-for-profit story.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ash/Kal-El/Superman: 15

Misty: 15

Brock: 19

Jessie/James: 24/25

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a warm summer day on Route 34.5, near a bus stop. Our heroes, Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Togepi were gathered there. Brock was leaving for Pewter City.

"Okay, guys, I gotta go now!" Brock said to Ash and Misty.

"Already?" Ash said. The trio had been traveling for three days after leaving Summer City, and already Superman (AKA Ash)'s legend had spread like wildfire across the country. In fact, it had even reached Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australia 2 days earlier.

Brock had to leave because of some things he had to take care of in Pewter. When he broke the news a few days earlier, before they had reached Summer City. Ash and Misty weren't that thrilled when they heard the news.

Flashback:

_"You're LEAVING?" Ash and Misty said in unison._

_"Yeah, I gotta check up on my old gym, to see if it's being run properly."_

_"But you can't leave us!" Ash replied._

_"Oh, come on, you can do just fine without me!"_

_"But who's gonna read the map? And keep Misty and me from fighting each other? You can't expect us to survive while you're gone-"_

_"For a week!" Brock stated, cutting him off. Ash and Misty looked at each other, and in unison, said_

_"Oh."_

_"So you're not going to be leaving us forever." Misty stated._

_"Hell, no! I'll be leaving for Pewter in a few days, so you'll still have time with me."_

End flashback.

"Alright, then, I hope you have a safe trip," said Misty. "Say hi to your brothers and sisters for me."

"I will." He said, running off to the bus stop.

"Bye!" Said Misty.

"See ya!" Cried Ash.

"Pika!" Yelled Pikachu.

"Toge, toge prri!" Said Togepi.

"A week without Brock," Ash commented. "Right, let's get going." He and Misty departed the bus stop, heading back to the main route. They had no idea they were watched from afar…

Two hours later…

"Oh, man, I'm tired, let's stop here." Misty stated, stretching her arms behind her head.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ash said. "Let's set up camp here." Just then, a mechanical arm came out of nowhere and grabbed Pikachu. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled, in shock that his friend was being Poke-napped.

"Pika-pi!" he yelled back in horror, while a robot appeared, which the arm belonged to. A platform with three familiar figures rose out of the robot.

"Prepare for trouble, this one was easy!"

"And make it double, this is just as cheesy!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"

Mee-yowth! That's right!"

"Wo-buffet!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash and Misty cried in unison.

"Give me back my Pikachu, now!" Ash yelled.

"Ahhahahaha! My, aren't we being selfish today!" Said Jesse. This just angered Ash even more.

"Damn you!" He said.

"What do you three want with Pikachu this time?" Misty yelled.

"Well, if you must know, our boss wants to kill Superman!" Jesse said. Misty and Ash cringed at this. It made sense to them that the head of Team Rocket would want to kill Superman, but this was still a bit extreme.

"So we're here to flush him out!" Meowth said. "If he comes to save youse twoips, we're gonna snuff 'im!" Ash looked at him strangely. Their logic was a little strange. Of course now that he knew they were trying to kill him, he wouldn't give them the pleasure of doing so. In other words, Superman was not going to show up.

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!" Misty yelled. "How are you going to catch him when you know that he can't be harmed by anything man-made?" Jesse, James and Meowth were shocked. Obviously, they had not considered that fact that Superman could not be harmed by anything they made.

"We didn't know that!" Jesse yelled. Misty and Ash looked at them confused. Apparently, they didn't read the newspaper, or they would have read Misty's initial report, where she said that the bullets that were fired at him weren't even effective. Jesse regained her composure. "We're still going to make off with Pikachu, though! Ta-ta for now, twerps!" They went back into the robot, laughing and preparing to make their getaway.

"Oh, no, you don't! Bayleef, go!" Ash yelled, calling forth his Bayleef. The Sauropod-like Pokemon popped out of its Poke Ball, ready to go.

"Bay, Bay!" It cried out. Misty reached into her bag and prepared to call on a Pokemon.

"Staryu-" she cried, before Psyduck came out.

"Pysduck!" Misty, obviously irritated, recalled it and called out her Staryu.

"Bayleaf, use Solarbeam, aim for the arm!" Ash commanded his Pokemon. Bayleaf took aim and fired a shot at the robot's arm.

"Staryu, aim for the arm, too! Water gun!" Staryu fired at the arm to. The combined attacks severed the robot's arm off at the elbow, causing Pikachu to fall out. He landed on both his feet safely, and ran into Ash's arms. After the little reunion, Pikachu got ready to attack.

"Pikachu, Thunder Bolt, now!" Pikachu's fur bristled, as it got ready to attack. The Team Rocket members began panicking, since they had forgotten to "thunder-proof" their robot. The electric attack struck the robot, and it exploded, sending Team Rocket flying.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The three yelled, propelled out of the robot so fast, that they couldn't have any dialogue before disappearing.

"Good riddance!" Misty exclaimed. She and Ash recalled their Pokemon and set up camp. After setting up their tents, Ash got the radio out and set it on the table that they had set up, and began looking for a station while Misty took out a book, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and began reading it. Finally, Ash found a good station. It played mainly Hard Rock from the 1960's, 70s, 80s and 90s. They were playing a song that Ash liked, which was "Highway Star" by Deep Purple. Ash lounged in his chair, while listening, softly singing the song's lyrics so that Misty could not hear them. The song's lyrics began as singer Ian Gillian began singing about a guy who loved to race and wouldn't give it up. Ash tapped his feet to the song and sang along with it.

Misty looked up from her book and looked at Ash. He looked at her as though she thought he did something wrong. "What?" He said. 

"Nothing." She replied, going back to her book, while Togepi slept in her lap. Ash tried to relax again. Suddenly, he heard a ringing with his super-hearing. His eyes perked up. Misty looked at him puzzled, and asked,

"Ash, what's wrong?" Ash looked at her, and said,

"Nothing. I just have to piss." He got up from his chair and tripped. Misty sighed, irritated.

"God, Ash, you're so clumsy sometimes." Ash looked at her and smiled a goofy smile at her. He got up and went into the forest, trying to find a spot where she couldn't see him. When he found that spot, he changed into Superman, and then took off for wherever the ringing was. His best hunch was that it was a heist in Goldenrod City. He followed the ringing until he found its location. His hunch was right. A bank heist was being perpetrated in Goldenrod. At first he thought that these were just petty crooks. Oh, how wrong he was!

"Come on, get this gold onto the helicopters!" Yelled the Rocket sergeant. The grunts were loading gold onto several helicopters that were parked on the roof of the bank. These were not ordinary helicopters, mind you, as they were helicopters that could withstand a high amount of weight. The Rockets were almost done when they heard a voice call,

"Excuse me! Does that gold belong to you? Because I think it belongs to the bank, there." Superman said to the Rockets. The Rockets, who were obviously underestimating hi, laughed. Superman rolled his eyes.

"No, it doesn't but were taking it anyways! What are you, some big blue Boy Scout?" The Rocket sergeant replied. He signaled to the other Rockets, who aimed their guns at him. Superman was a little offended by the "boy scout" comment.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." He said to himself. He refused to move, and the Rocket sergeant yelled,

"Open fire!" At that instant, all the Rockets began shooting him-to no avail. Superman just stood there with his arms crossed as the bullets bounced off him like they were nothing. He began walking towards them. The Rocket sergeant panicked and threw a Poke Ball. Out came a new Pokemon, a Seviper.

"Seviper!" It yelled. The sergeant commanded it to use Poison Bite (An attack I made up. I thought that it would be useful for a venomous snake to use.). The giant snake lunged at Superman and tried to bite his arm. This was completely ineffective as its teeth broke as soon as they tried to bite on Superman's ultra-dense skin. The snake screamed in pain.

"I guess I taste bad," Superman said. "Now surrender or I'll have to get serious."

"Never!" Yelled the Rocket sergeant. The other Rockets threw their Poke Balls at him, releasing other Pokemon. A grunt commanded his Charmeleon to use Flamethrower. It shot its flames at him. The flames engulfed Superman, but again, he was unfazed. A Hitmonchan tried to punch him with one of its attacks, but it not only broke its knuckles, but its whole arm, as well. One even tired to use Hyper Beam, but that failed, too. Superman went up to the sergeant, grabbed him by the collarand lifted him up in the air.

"Alright, listen up. I know Giovanni wants to kill me. Tell him that if he wants to do so, he'll have to send someone effective, not some bumbling idiots like Jesse and James, got that?" He threw the sergeant to the ground after saying this. Then, he looked at the helicopters. The gold was already on the helicopters though, so that wasn't going to help. He flew to the helicopters and snapped the rotors off like they were twigs. He then wrapped the rotors around the Rockets so the police could take care of them. After he did this action, the police showed up. He noticed them and saluted Officer Jenny, who saluted back.

"Good work, Superman." She said to him.

"No problem." He replied, and flew off, back to his and Misty's campsite.

When he got back and changed back into Ash, he found out that he had only been gone eight minutes. Misty sarcastically said to him, "what took you?"

"Couldn't find a good spot." He replied. He sat back down in his chair and relaxed again. It was only a matter of time now that Giovanni was going to go after him with his best agents. However, Giovanni had no idea that Ash and Superman were one in the same. But he was still worried. He looked at Misty. He thought that he'd have to leave her for a few seconds, but then remembered that Giovanni did not know that Misty and Superman were acquaintances. But why did Jesse and James go after him? But he remembered that they said they were trying to flush him out. His secret was still safe-for now.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location…

"So, he says that I should send my best agents after him, huh?Well then he'll get my best agents! I know who can deal with him. Once he's gone, I'll be free to take over! Ha ha ha!"

End chapter


	7. Bonnie and Clyde

Ash Ketchum: Superman chapter 6

Note: _Pokémon _and all related characters and material are the property of the Pokémon Company and the intellectual property of Satoshi Tajri.

_Superman _and all related characters and material are the property of DC Comics and are the intellectual property of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.

--

-Ash/Kal-El/Superman: 15

-Misty: 15

--

Krypton, 15 years ago

"My friends, I am not a man who is prone to wild, inaccurate statements. Therefore you must believe me when I say this planet is doomed!" A man dressed in white, glowing clothing the native clothing of Krypton beseeched a council of men and women. He had black hair, was fairly tall and well-built, average for Kryptonian. This is Jor-El, the father of Kal-El. "You cannot ignore these facts! It's suicide. No, it's worse, it's _genocide_."

"Jor-El, we do not reject the facts, just your conclusion."

"The star we orbit right now will go into a supernova within 30 days or less! Because our orbit is so close to it, it will have disastrous consequences for the planet Krypton!" Replied Jor-El. The Council was sitting around a table with Jor-El at the front, explaining his findings. None of them were visibly impressed, since they felt that his theories were completely outlandish. "I say that we begin evacuation as soon as possible to prevent any loss of life."

"Jor-El," said one member. A woman, somewhat older than Jor-El. "I have looked over your data, and there is no proof whatsoever that Krypton is doomed."

"Vand-Ah," he replied. "You must have looked over it wrong."

"I tell you Krypton is simply shifting its orbit," replied Vand-Ah.

"Jor-El," said one council member. "Be RESONABLE."

"My friend," he replied, "I have never been otherwise. This madness is yours."

"This discussion is terminated!" Said another council member. "Jor-El, if you continue with this, and attempt to produce a climate of fear among the populace, we will prosecute you for insurrection."

"You would accuse me of rebellion?" Jor-El replied. "has it become a crime to cherish life now? I do not intend to create fear and panic. I intend to save our planet's populace by any means necessary. But I need cooperation from the Council."

"But as we said before, this discussion was _terminated_. If you do not comply, you will be charged with insurrection and banished to the Phantom Zone, an eternal living Death; which you yourself discovered. Will you comply?"

Jor-El sighed and hung his head in sadness. He knew he had been beat. "I will remain silent. Neither I, nor my wife Lara will leave Krypton." The Council members filed out of the room, leaving Jor-El alone inside. The Council members, thanks to their egotistical thoughts, felt that They had heard the last of Jor-El's outlandish theory. But Jor-El had another plan, one that he felt would save Krypton.

--

Two weeks later, Jor-El was working on a device in his lab, which was part of his home. His lab had a view of the Kryptonian city, its buildings glistening in the red Kryptonian sun. Outside, the people went along their business, not knowing what was occurring off-world. The machines within Jor-El's laboratory scurried about, doing their tasks as best they could in the time allotted. Jor-El, mean while, was busy placing several objects in the device. But it was not like a telescope. No, it was a spaceship. A ship built for only one person; his son, Kal-El. The ship was not like any seen on Earth, but a Kryptonian design. The ship could move many times faster than the speed of light, allowing the ship to reach its distant destination within a year. Faster-than-light travel is possible on a planet with a civilization and technology many years more advanced than that of Earth's, and thus are able to get past Einstein's theories.

"Jor-El," came a feminine voice. Jor-El turned around to see who it was. It was his wife Lara, with whom he had conceived their son, Kal-El. "Is it ready yet?"

"Almost," he responded with resignation in his voice. It was only Lara who believed his theory, and because they had to keep silent about Krypton's fate, Jor-El worked on Kal-El's ship for some time. "It will be ready soon. I just need to make a few adjustments to his course." His course. Lara knew where he was heading.

"Why Earth?" She asked him. "They're primitives, thousands of years behind us."

"Their atmosphere will sustain him," he replied. "And he will need that advantage to survive."

"He will be different. He will defy their gravity."

"He will appear as one of them, though. On the surface, we Kryptonians appear similar to Humans." He replied.

"But he won't _be_ one of them, Jor-El."

"No, his dense molecular structure will make him strong, and virtually invulnerable. He will be fast, have abilities far exceeding that of humans."

"He will be isolated… alone."

"No," he replied. "He will not be alone. He will never be alone." Jor-El finished placing several items in the ship. They were Krytonian data discs, which resemble Earth Compact Discs for a reason, as he had studied humans from afar for some time. Lara was saddened at the thought of losing their newborn Kal-El, but Jor-El had told her it was for the best that he leave. Jor-El put a plate on Kal-El's ship, which was inscribed in their native language.

"What does it say?"

"It says, 'This is Kal-El of Krypton, our infant son, our last hope. Please protect him and deliver him from evil. We will be with you, Kal-El, for all the days of your life'." Lara choked up, her grief spilling over. "We must hurry. The star may explode at any moment now. Is he sedated?"

"He is fast asleep," she replied. She held baby Kal-El in her arms, not even a month old. She had just begun to grow attached to her son, and any mother knows that parting with their young child is a sad experience no one should have to go through.

"Good. Place him in the capsule."

--

"The energy output to Jor-El's quarters is now in excess. We believe it may be due to a misuse of energy," a policeman reported to the Council of Elders his report. None of them were pleased at Jor-El's apparent activities.

"Investigate."

"And if the investigation proves correct?"

"He knew the penalty he faced," replied the head Councilman. "The law will be upheld!"

--

"But how do you know he will survive on Earth?" Asked Lara.

"I have been there myself and I have seen the people. Although they appear savage, they are a good people at heart. And their ability for good is why I'm sending him to Earth. He will be like a guiding light for them."

"_WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!_" Came an alarm.

"What is it?" Asked Lara, now worried.

"Computer," said Jor-El.' What is it?"

"_The police are coming! And_ _we are detecting_ _seismic activity across the planet! The sun is going into supernova! There isn't much time!_"

"Oh no," said Lara.

"We must hurry. Quick, put him in the ship." Lara did as she was told, placing Kal-El inside the ship. The couple gazed at their child for one last time. Then Jor-El spoke, saying, "You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you... even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more, I... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine." He caressed his son one last time before saying, "The son becomes the father, and the father the son. This is all I... all I can send you, Kal-El." (A/N: This came from _Superman: The Movie _as spoken by the great Marlon Brando. I had to use it) As he finished, his voice broke slightly, but he finished anyway. Lara, on the other hand, broke down in tears, for she knew that this was the last time she would ever see him.

As the police approached, Jor-El moved to consul near the ship. Suddenly a violent quake shook the dwelling, casting fear over Lara. The planet was dying. Jor-El hurriedly press several buttons, and the ship's engines fired. His task done, Jor-El walked over Lara and wrapped his arms around his beloved wife as the two watched Kal-El's capsule blast into the Kryptonian sky.

Meanwhile, seismic activity on Krypton reached severe levels, finally convincing the Council that Jor-El was, indeed, right. But falling debris killed many of them. At the same time, out in space, Kal-El's ship sped quickly, away from the doomed planet at the star began to go into supernova.

In Jor-El and Lara's dwelling, the two watched the sky, one last time before they said their final words of farewell and love to each other. In one last moment, they kissed each other just as the shockwave of the supernova decimated Krypton. But Kal-El's ship, which was racing faster than the speed of light, was already at a safe distance away to not be harmed by the supernova. Kal-El was safe. He would begin a new life on Earth as one Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town.

--

Earth, present day

Speaking of Ash, he was now waking up from his night of slumber. "Oh, man, what a nice dream!" He said to himself. No, it was not about Krypton's destruction, but about him becoming the World's Greatest Master. He looked over at Misty, the object of his affections, and thought about how she looked like an angel when she was a sleep. Of course, she could also be a devil when she was awake and a bit of a pain in the ass at times, but no matter. As he looked up in the sky, he saw a flock of Pidgey, and remembered when he first discovered his powers.

--

Pallet Town, 10 years ago

"Ash, don't go too far, okay?" Said a 26-year-old Deila Ketchum to her young son, Ash.

"Okay, Mommy!" Delia shook her head in amazement. It had been only 4 years since she found her adopted son in a field near Pallet. Ash was an energetic young boy, which when her friends asked about, she said that it came from her side of the family. Of course, it didn't come from her, but people bought it anyway. Little Ash was fascinated by Pokemon, and had been telling his adoptive mom that he intended to be a trainer, which she supported him in doing so.

As she watched Ash play, a flock of Pidgeys, Pidgeottos and Pidgeot flew into a nearby tree, as well as some Taillow and Swellow. Then, a gust of wind blew in from the north, bringing some pollen with it. Little Ash slowly began building up a sneeze.

"Ah… ah… ah… ah… ah… CHOO!!!" Ash let loose a powerful sneeze, with Delia not looking.

"Oh dear, bless… you…" Delia's words slowed down as she saw what had happened with Ash's sneeze. The whole tree was barren of leaves, and the bird Pokemon in the tree had no feathers at all, as though they had been plucked. And standing right in front of the tree was Ash, innocently smiling, completely oblivious of the effects of said sneeze. "Oh dear," she said to herself, the words completely belying the thoughts in her head right now.

--

"Ash. Ash. ASH!!!" Misty's very loud voice interrupted Ash's thoughts on his childhood big time, bringing him out of his day dream.

"Jeez Misty, why'd ya have to yell so loud?"

"Because we've got to get moving soon. We have to reach the town where Brock is meeting us in two days."

"Okay, okay," he replied. Just then, they heard a low sound coming over the horizon.

"What's that?" Asked Misty.

"I'm not sure," replied Ash. "But it sounds like it's getting closer." The pair listened intently, trying to decipher what it was. Even Ash with his super-hearing, could not tell what it was. Then, Pikachu looked to the north and began to charge its cheeks. "What is it?" Asked Ash before he noticed where the sound was coming from and looked in that direction. A mecha suddenly burst out of the trees and into the clearing where they were. Misty held on to Togepi as tightly as she could before putting the baby Pokemon in her backpack. Ash simply stood firm with Pikachu by his side.

The mecha was human-shaped, and was colored black and white in varying spots. The two immediately knew it was a Team Rocket mecha thanks to the big red "R" on its chest. The robot stopped about 30 feet from them and stood silently for a few moments. Then it opened up and out stepped a pair wearing specialized Team Rocket uniforms. The male was taller than the female and seemed to be muscular in build, while the woman was more pixie-like.

"You there!" Said the man, pointing at Misty. "You have been seen with Superman! Where is he, answer us!"

"What are you talking about?" She replied. "I don't know why you want me! I've never met him"

"Answer us!" Snapped the woman. "We at Team Rocket know you're associated with him." Misty's face showed a look of surprise, fear and shock at the woman's words.

"Who are you?" Ash shouted at them.

"We are Team Rocket special operatives," replied the man. "My name is Clyde and my partner is named Bonnie. We are far more effective than those buffoons Jesse and James."

_Dammit,_ thought Ash. _I knew shouldn't have challenged Giovanni._

"He's not here, if that's what you're looking for!" Said Misty.

"We know that, that's why we're trying to find him." Replied Bonnie.

"Why, so you can kill him?" Shout Ash. "Even if she knew, then there's no way she would tell you, you assholes!"

"Silence, boy!" Snapped Clyde. "I'm gonna make you pay for insulting us!" He pressed a button on a remote. The mecha began to move and grabbed Ash by the collar.

"ASH!!!"

"PIKAPI!!!"

"Let go of me, dammit!" Yelled Ash as he thrashed around in the mecha's hand.

"My my, what bad language," said Bonnie. "We're going to have to teach you a lesson." She pressed a button on her remote and the mecha went into a windup and threw Ash a considerable distance, leaving Misty alone with Bonnie and Clyde. Misty looked at the mecha with a look of terror on her face, knowing that she was in big trouble.

"Now then, about Superman…"

--

As Ash flew through the air, he kicked himself mentally for his mistake. But now that he was nowhere near the clearing where Misty was. _Looks like this is a job… for Superman._

--

"Tell us now! Where is he!"

"I don't know!" Misty shouted. "How am I supposed to know these things?"

"We're getting tired of this, little girl, tell us now!" Said Clyde, who was threatening her with a weapon. Because of the nature of these threats, Misty was about as terrified as when she was a hostage in Team Rocket's attempted heist, except she didn't have a gun to her head this time.

"You will tell us," said Clyde as he pressed a button on his remote. "Or we will silence you forever." The mecha shifted its shape into a four-legged appearance. Its mouth opened, showing a cannon inside. Misty shook with immense fear that she was going to die, but then—

"HOLD IT!!!" Came a very powerful voice. All three people in the clearing looked around before seeing who it was.

"Superman!" said Misty with a joyous tone of voice and expression.

"It's you!" Said Bonnie and Clyde in unison.

"Who'd you expect?" He replied. "It disgusts me that you're threatening her like that. Have you no decency?"

"Shut up, you!" Snapped Clyde in a move that required cojones. "What's your interest in her, anyway?"

"I will admit I have saved her before," replied Superman. "But that's about as all I can say." Misty took his words in context, knowing that if he admitted to any relationship, there could be consequences.

"Never mind!" Said Bonnie. "We have to kill him now!"

"Oh, right!" Clyde pressed another button on the remote. The mecha moved, and aimed its cannon at Superman, who simply stayed in place. "FIRE!!!" The mecha fired its weapon at Superman, it resembled a Hyper Beam. Superman assumed a defensive position. The weapon did nothing to him, as expected.

"What!?" Said Bonnie. "But that's impossible! Our best scientists developed our Super Beam for such an occasion!"

"You don't know I'm invulnerable?" Said Superman. Bonnie and Clyde recoiled in fear after hearing Superman's words. Apparently, they didn't get the memo. "My turn." Superman flew under the underbelly of the mecha at that moment. Bonnie and Clyde panicked and shifted the mecha to its bipedal mode and took a swing at Superman. It apparently worked, because for the first time, Superman flinched. Misty, who was watching this, reacted with shock, as did Superman. But remembering Jor-El's words that he might have some difficulty, he recovered. He flew to the robot's legs and lifted it up. He then flew up a few feet and began to swing it around a few times before finally tossing it like a hammer throw. He watched the mecha sail off into the distance, knowing that he had won this day.

"That was amazing!" Said Misty.

"It's not a problem," he replied. "I'm happy to help. Oh by the way, that's two now. Don't think I'm not keeping count."

"Oh right," she said in an embarrassed manner."Um, will I see you… around?" _I'm pathetic,_ she thought to herself. _I'm acting like a—oh wait, technically I am of a schoolgirl age._

"As I said before, I'm always around," he replied, and then took off. Misty watched him leave once again.

Just a short time later, Ash showed up. She ran over to him and said, "Ash, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Not too much damage."

"Oh, that's good," she said. "Are you badly injured?"

"No, Some trees broke my fall," he replied.

"Okay than, as long as you're okay, then we'll be fine. Come on, let's get going."

"Hey Misty, wait up!" He replied, chasing after her. He was amazed at how well she recovered from such an experience, but he chalked it up to her tenaciousness and feisty nature. He picked up his backpack and followed her out of the clearing in the direction of the new city they were coming to, and the new adventures that awaited them.

--

"Grr, how was he able to beat my best agents? No matter. I shall begin moving my plan forward any day now."

--

To be continued

Reviews would be nice. I know I haven't updated in so long, but I need some feedback.


	8. A Weakness Discovered

Ash Ketchum: Superman Chapter 7

Note: _Superman _and all related characters and material are trademark and copyright of DC Comics.

Pokémon and all related characters and material are trademark and copyright of Game Freak, Nintendo and Pokémon USA.

--

Star City is a rising city within the region, and is starting to compete economically with its sister city, Summer City. The city's location within the region also makes it a transportation hub, as evidenced by its major airport, Star City International. The city's population is diverse, with people of many different ethnicities and nationalities (A/N: In this case, nationality means foreigners. I thought it sounded good) living and working in the city. Right now, Ash and Misty are approaching the city limits, astonished at the city's size.

"Wow," said Ash. Pikachu mirrored his statement with the equivalent in his language.

"I'm not sure if I've seen a skyline like this," said Misty. "I've seen pictures of New York and Los Angeles, but I haven't seen a skyline like this in real life. Celadon City might count, but it's not as big as Star City seems to be."

"I know. And this is where Brock's meeting us," he said. It was not a question.

"Yeah; he told us to meet him at the Pokémon Center in downtown."

"So shall we go," said Ash. "I'll race ya!" At that, he took off running towards the city, but keeping his speed under check so Misty wouldn't either suspect or fall too far behind.

"Hey, no fair, you got a head start!"

--

Because of the size of Star City, Ash, Misty and Pikachu had to take a train much like an El train into the city. The twisted steel of Star City amazed them even as they were approaching the city, just two days prior, having seen the city's skyline from a good deal away, compared to Summer City, which they could not see two days out. The reason for this is because A) Star City had a bigger skyline and B) the buildings are taller. It had taken Ash and Misty a week to get to the city after Brock left, but they had been traveling to Star City with Brock for 3 weeks prior to him leaving, so it had taken them a month to get here, and now their journey to the city was almost over. Their next stop after this wouldn't be as long as a month, but it was still a good distance.

"So where is Brock meeting us, again?" A curious Ash queried.

"He said he'll meet us at the Pokémon Center and then he'll take us somewhere," she replied. "I didn't ask him where he wanted to take us, though."

"Did you just not ask him or did you forget?" He asked.

Misty put her finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling in an inquisitive manner, than she said in a gleeful tone, "I forgot!" Ash simply dropped his head in embarrassment, as did Pikachu.

"Why did I ask?" He said to himself in a rare moment of genius—for his character, anyway. Superman is a different story.

"Well, we'll find out when we see him, I guess," Misty said in her normal way. "The Pokémon Center is in the Central Business District and that's where this train is going," she pointed to a map showing the Center's location. "See, the train stop is right near the Pokémon Center."

"Okay, then," said Ash.

As the train pulled into the city, the two marveled at the high-rises that made up the city's skyline and the twisted metal jungle. The latter overwhelmed them the most.

"Wow," said Ash. "I wonder how many Gyms are here." Now it was Misty's turn to be exasperated, having annoyed Ash just minutes earlier.

"Is that all you can think about," she said to him in a very annoyed manner. "Is obtaining badges all you ever think about?" She asked.

"Of course not," He replied. "Bein' a Pokémon Master is another thing I think about!" Misty sighed in exasperation at Ash's (fake) stupidity.

"I give up!"

--

"Hey guys, over here!" In the crowded Pokémon Center, it's very difficult to hear anyone, but with "super hearing", it's pretty easy, as Ash managed to pick Brock out of a crowd at the Pokémon Center. Misty was at first surprised, but her excitement in seeing Brock again made her drop it.

"Hey Brock," said Ash as he and Misty ran to greet him. "How ya been?"

"I've been good," he replied. "I just had to check on the Gym to see if it was being run well."

"Well," asked Misty. "Is it?"

"Well, to my dismay, I never got to get to the Gym," he said. "I had to deal with some issues in the city. They've been having some problems with Team Rocket recently." Ash and Misty looked at each other with dread on their faces, enough that Brock got worried and asked, "So, what happened to you two?"

"Well," said Misty, trying to explain. "The first day you left, we were attacked by Jesse and James," she began. "They tried to take Pikachu first, but then they told us that their boss wants to kill Superman." The look on Brock's face was a combination of horror and worry, but a voice in his head was telling him that since he was talking to them, they obviously survived.

"So what happened?"

"We sent 'em flying," Ash said in a nonchalant manner that made him sound sociopathic, in a sense. But the message got through, there's no doubt of Pikachu's ability to send someone into the stratosphere faster than a Saturn V rocket. "But that's not the worst of it, though."

"Two days ago, these two Rocket agents named Bonnie and Clyde showed up demanding that I tell them where Superman is," said Misty. "And they sent _Ash_ flying!"

"Well what happened next?"

"Superman showed up and flung them past the horizon, but not after a few setbacks." Brock listened to this with a concerned look on his face, telling Ash that there seemed to be something going on here with Team Rocket. In fact, that's exactly what Brock was thinking, too.

"Do you think there's a connection?" He asked, much to the surprise of Ash and Misty.

"Might be," replied Ash. "I mean, you had problems, and so did we. There's gotta be something going on here with Team Rocket. I mean, we had to deal with them twice and—what kinds of problems did you have with them, by the way?" Misty looked at Ash in a surprised manner, since he was acting too damn smart for his idiot character, but Brock didn't seem to care, since the gravity of the situation was far more important than an idiot actually being smart for once.

"Right now I can't think of anything," he said. The statement disappointed the both of them until they remembered something.

"Hey Brock, you said you were going to take us somewhere," said Misty. "Where are you planning on going?"

"Oh yeah, I was going to take you to the Star City Natural and Human History museum!" He said, with a much more positive tone of voice that earlier. "They have a great exhibit on Pokémon and dinosaur bones as well as a great rock collection I want to see."

"Rocks? Oh, I don't want to see rocks!" Ash said with a whine.

"Oh, shut up!"

--

Like many museums—or at least the Field Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Science and Industry in the author's home city--the Star City Natural History Museum has a Greco-Roman style of architecture that distinguishes it from most of the buildings in Star City. As they neared its grand entrance, Ash, Misty and Brock marveled at the magnificent splendor of the museum's grand façade. The building was purposefully made to resemble Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (A/N: Because the author is from Chicago, he'll drop the occasional Chicago reference), enough that you'd expect said museum to sue the Star City museum.

Anyway, the interior of the museum left the three travelers in awe as soon as the stepped in through the doors. The main hall contained several life-size models of legendary Pokémon: Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Mew, Entei, Raikou and Suicune in various poses, the birds hung from the ceiling and the land Pokémon were facing each other down. And that was just a preview of things to come. The group paid their admission fee thanks to Brock. But the mood was ruined when Misty saw a newspaper and started to cry. Ash, who was deeply worried about her, said,

"Misty… are you okay?" Misty nodded and said, to his surprise,

"Yeah, it's just that that issue has the interview with Superman that I never got to do!" Ash retracted his hand in exasperation

"Misty, you're making a big deal over nothing!" He said to her.

Instead of listening to him (he was right), she grabbed him by the collar and hollered at his face, "I wanted to interview Superman! Instead, he sends a letter to every newspaper in the area and ruins my chan…" Misty stopped her little rant when she noticed that the people around her were looking at her with a "what the hell is going on here" look on their faces. Utterly embarrassed, she let go of Ash and dropped her grievances.

"Next time, please don't grab Ash in the middle of public," said Brock. "It's embarrassing for all of us."

"I'm still mad at him," She said with a scoff and crossing her arms.

_It's not my fault._ Ash thought to himself. _I just wanted people to know more about me_. You see, two weeks ago, Ash had sent a letter to local newspapers telling people his origins and his powers. When Misty saw it, she was devastated, because she had wanted to interview him herself. Well actually, it's more liked ticked off than devastated.

The group's first stop was the Pokémon and dinosaur exhibit that got Ash excited. Being that he's pretending to be slow-minded, he felt that something like this would be exciting. Of course, since his interest in Pokémon is legitimate, his excitement is justified. The exhibit featured bones of long-dead Pokémon like Aerodactyl, Kabuto and others, as well as some Pikachu bones, which made poor little Pikachu a little nervous. With the exception of Pikachu, who should have been a little more relaxed and Togepi—who was understandably scared due to its infant nature, prompting Misty to put the egg-shaped Pokémon in her back pack. Brock, meanwhile, studied the fossils as best he could as if he was studying for some kind of Breeder test.

After an hour in the Pokémon bones exhibit—Ash left after half an hour, though because Pikachu got too scared—Brock took them to the rocks hall, much to Ash's (apparent) displeasure. The hall contained some of the most spectacular rocks and gems—which excited Misty, who marveled at the fantastic diamonds—and even ordinary rock, which interested Brock. Ash, trying to keep up the illusion that he was an idiot, pretended to be bored. Until Brock and Misty weren't looking, that is. Pikachu, who had seen Ash turn from himself into Superman, however, didn't buy it. But the little critter kept it to itself.

For a while, things seemed to be wholly innocent, until Ash caught a glimpse of a strange rock about 20 feet from him. The rock was encased in a circular case, which allowed people to look at it more closely on all sides. As Ash approached the rock, he began to feel strange, like the rock was doing strange things, but he paid no heed to it. However, when he got within 10 feet, he not only got to see what it looked like—it was a green, glowing rock—but he began to feel pain in his entire body. He started to feel very dizzy and sick to his stomach, like he had just been on a very intense tilt-a-whirl. And he was getting weaker. Soon the pain was almost overwhelming and he was struggling to breathe, as though something was pressing on his chest and preventing him from breathing, forcing him to take some much labored breaths. He could barely keep on his feet. Now he knew had had to get away from the rock--fast. It was at this time he realized he was very close to the rock, which he realized must have been the cause of his strange symptoms. Unable to take it, he turned away from the rock and struggled towards the exit. That's when Misty saw him.

"Ash," she said in a very worried voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, not wanting Misty to know what was happening. Right now the pain was taking a toll on him and if he didn't get away fast, he was in big trouble. "I'm just going to the Egyptian exhibit, I'll meet you guys later," he said, leaving Misty and Brock in the rock exhibit. Pikachu tried to yell at him, but Ash firmly whispered, "Don't say anything." Finally he was out of the exhibit, but he was still feeling the effects of the rock. As he staggered through the museum, he noticed some sunlight pouring out of a window about 40 feet away. It took him a while, but he finally managed to get to the sweet sunlight. As he bathed himself in the glow of the sun, he felt his strength return and the pain and nausea leave. Pikachu looked on in confusion, but he was happy that his trainer was okay. But as he felt his strength return, Ash worried about that rock. Were there more rocks like that? Would he survive the next time he encountered it? Those thoughts haunted him severely.

--

_Flashback_

"Professor, what can you tell me about Ash?" A very concerned Delia Ketchum asked her old college professor, Prof. Samuel Oak. She had been noticing Ash's very strange abilities, and was now asking for help.

"I'll do all I can, Deila. But I'm more of a Pokémon researcher. However, I have managed to translate the hieroglyphs on the capsule you say Ash landed it."

"You did? What does it say?" Oak took out his notepad, and said,

"It says, 'This is Kal-El of Krypton, our infant son, our last hope. Please protect him and deliver him from evil. We will be with you, Kal-El, for all the days of your life'." Delia simply looked at Oak, confused about what was going on. "Delia, an astronomer friend told me that there was a supernova of a red star about 5 years ago. He suspects that there may have been an Earth-like planet orbiting the star, and that it may have been destroyed by the supernova. I believe that Ash is a survivor of that supernova. The data dicks that you gave me indicate that this planet had a technology so advanced that ours is primitive in comparison, almost Neolithic compared to theirs."

"Oh dear," Delia said in reaction to Oak's revelations. "I didn't know there was life out in space!"

"Yes there is, apparently," replied Oak. Now his face got serious. "Listen Delia, I want you to do me a favor. No, make me a promise."

"What do you want me to do, Professor?" She replied.

"I want you to promise never to reveal Ash's nature to anyone. If you do, well, I cannot say right now. But if anyone finds out, there could be trouble, understand?"

"Yes, I do," she replied in a very worried tone of voice.

"Good, then," he said, turning away. But then he turned around and said, "You must also be aware of this substance." He pressed a button on his keyboard and a picture of a green, glowing rock showed up on screen.

"What is that, professor?" She asked him.

"That is the only known substance that is lethal to people from his planet. To us, it's just a harmless rock. But the specific radioactivity is so high that this substance is poisonous and possibly deadly to anyone from the planet Krypton!" Now Delia was frightened beyond words, knowing that there was something that could kill her little boy so easily. "These are pieces of his home planet. My non-Pokémon colleagues told me that it was once part of a planet, and we believe it may be from Krypton. There are also other colors of this substance, but we don't know where they are. We also don't know where all the green rocks are either, so it will be difficult to track it all down. We have done tests on the green substance, and there seems to be no short or long-term effects on humans."

"Oh dear," she said. She could only imagine what kind of experiences Ash would soon have.

--

About an hour after encountering the green rock, Ash met up with Brock and Misty at the Egyptian exhibit Ash had spoken of earlier. But Misty and Brock were not about to let Ash get away without explaining what had happened in there. "Really guys, I'm fine," Ash said. "I just felt a little queasy, that's all."

"Well you didn't look queasy!" Misty shot back. "You looked like you were in immense pain, I was wor—I mean, I thought you were lying."

"Sheez guys, I'm fine!" He said firmly. "Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm hungry." Misty dropped her grievances, since she knew that she could not get Ash to fess up to what had happened. She would be kept in the dark for a long time.

--

"So, my scientists tell me this is the only substance that can kill someone of his kind, huh? Well that makes things much more interesting. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

--

To be continued

So class, tell me, what is the name of the only substance in the known universe that can kill Kryptonians? If you get it right, you get an A+! And include it with a review, will ya? Thanks.


	9. A Moment Alone

Ash Ketchum: Superman, chapter 8

--

It had now been two hours since Ash, Brock and Misty left the Star City Museum of Natural and Human History and Ash was still wondering about the strange substance that, as he came to realize, nearly killed him. Had he not gotten away in time, he surely would have been in big trouble, with both Misty and Brock discovering his alien nature, and/or, as previously mentioned, he would have died. But what was really eating him was what that rock was. He never got a chance to see what it was because, well, you know why. Maybe his mom knew.

So, Ash got up off the bed he was laying on in the Pokémon Center and made his way to the front desk where Brock was still flirting with Nurse Joy, the latter seeming as though she felt she was going to have to call the police on Brock. Ash had to tell Brock this in order to make him stop, again a rare moment of genius on the part of Ash.

"Excuse me, but I need to make a phone call," he said to Nurse Joy.

"Okay, the phones are right over there," she said, pointing to a row of videophones. That's not what Ash wanted, though.

"Um, it's sort of a private conversation," he said. "_Very _private, and I don't want anyone listening in. Don't you have any phone booths or something?" Now Nurse Joy got the message.

"Oh, okay, I didn't know. Yes, we do have phone booths here if you need one. They're on the second floor, right next to the men's room."

"Thanks." He made his way to the second floor, and found the phone booths. There were three of them so there wouldn't be a line. Of course, Ash was thinking, _I think I can use one of these to change_. _No, not now! Not now! I have GOT to focus here. _But anyway, he had to call his (adoptive) mom.

After settling in and dialing up her number, he waited a few seconds before the face of his adoptive mother showed up on screen. "Hi, honey!" She said in a cheerful tone as if nothing had happened. Well she can be excused since she didn't know what happened—yet. "Are things going okay? Are you changing your underwear every day?" Ash had to try and slow her down so he could speak.

"Mom, I didn't call to check up on you," he said.

"Oh, then what did you call me for?" She asked with an almost disappointed tone of voice.

"Well, me and the group went to a museum earlier after meeting up with Brock,"

"Okay, and?"

"Well," he paused to try and think about how he was going to phrase his next sentence. "We were in a rocks and gems exhibit," so far so good. "And I came across this strange glowing rock." Delia's face began to look more concerned. "As I got closer to it, I began to feel immense pain, I got really nauseous, dizzy and I could barely breathe." As he listed his symptoms, Delia's face changed from concerned to terror, as if she knew something. "And the longer I stayed within ten feet of it, the worse I felt. Finally, I couldn't take any more, so I left the exhibit."

When he finished, he saw that Delia had a look on her face not just of concern, but also terror. "Ash," she said after what seemed like forever. "Was this rock… green?"

"Yes, it was." He replied.

"Ash, I'm glad you called me," she said. "I'll have Professor Oak tell the curator to remove it. They're colleagues and good friends, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"But what was that?" He asked.

Delia took a big breath and said, "Radioactive pieces of your home world. If you're exposed to it long enough, it could kill you. It's the only substance that we know of that can kill people from your planet."

Now it was Ash's turn to be scared. "That stuff can kill me," he said quietly so that Delia couldn't hear. "What should I do?" He said after one or two minutes of contemplation.

"Stay away from it as much as possible," she replied with a very firm tone of voice. "Unfortunately, we don't know where all the samples of it are, so you'll have to keep on your guard. I hate to end our conversation like this, but try to cheer up. And make sure you change your underwear everyday, okay?"

"Okay mom," he said. He hung up the phone, now realizing that he wasn't as invincible as he thought he was. Things were going to be a little different now.

--

"Damn it Ash, where are you?" Said a very irritated Misty, who had been looking around the Pokémon Center for the last two hours. In fact, irritated might not be good enough to describe how displeased she was right now. She checked room after room for Ash, unsuccessful each time. It was around, maybe 9:00 at night, and she hadn't seen Ash since dinnertime. What was strange was that he seemed to be quieter than usual, since he'd usually be wolfing down his food like Goku, but tonight he seemed a little slower than usual, which made her very concerned, as she should be.

"Have you seen a guy wearing a blue vest with white sleeves and a red-white baseball cap with the Pokémon League logo on it?" She asked to some of the trainers in the main lobby.

"No, we haven't," replied one of them. "We just got here, so we haven't seen much yet.

"That's okay," she said. "I'll just ask around." So, she began to do so. There seemed to be a pattern—an unintentional one, no doubt—that none had seen Ash in the past 2 hours. Some had seen him an hour previously, but when she looked for him in the locations that they said he was in, he was not there. What was even worse was that it was relatively late at night, so the younger trainers were most likely at their houses and getting ready for their bedtimes, which was understandable for Misty. The older trainers, who seemed to be about her age and older could not tell her were Ash was.

So now she was in the hostel area of the Pokémon Center. If anyone knows what a youth hostel is, then you'll know what I'm talking about. She checked in several doors that were unlocked. None of them were trainer rooms, so she was not invading anyone's privacy. She checked another door, and saw—"Whoa". Close the door, quickly! Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates after what she just saw, since it stunned her completely. "Brock and… I never thought I'd see Brock actually… damn. And Nurse Joy?" She wasn't sure whether or not her little "experience" would traumatize her later in life. But she was impressed that Brock, well, whatever.

It took another ten minutes before Misty thought to look in the one place she should have looked—the room they were staying in. "Of course," she said to herself. "Why didn't I think of that?" Sure enough, there he was, laying on one of the beds. "There you are," she said, but not in an angry tone, but more of a confirmation. "I've been looking everywhere for you for the past two hours."

"You have? Why didn't you check here?"

"Because I didn't think to check here, that's why," she replied.

"You looked for me for two hours and you just now tried to find me here?" He asked with a laugh.

"Look, can we move on from that?" She said in a very annoyed manner. "I've been trying to find you for two hours, and I don't want to be irritated any further."

"Sorry about that," he said to her.

"And for that, I'll have to blame you for what I saw ten minutes ago," she said.

"Oh really?" He asked. Misty noticed he was acting smarter than usual, which seemed to intrigue her even more. And actually make him more… attractive. For Ash, however, he just felt like being smart around her instead of pretending to be dumb and immature all the time.

"Yeah, I saw Brock and Nurse Joy…" she stopped right there and began to gesture what she saw. Ash's eyes widened. It didn't take a genius to know what was going on there.

"Wow. Brock was…"

"Yep," she said. "With Nurse Joy." She said that just to drive the point home.

"Damn," he said. "I can't believe--,"

"Look, just stop right there," she said, not wanting to discuss the matter any further.

"Okay," he said. "Do you want to sit down?" He asked her, as he was now sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Sure," she replied. "I'm tired, anyway." So, she sat down aside Ash. "You're acting a lot different from usual," she said to him. "Care to explain?"

"Do I have to?" He replied.

_It must be his sense of humor_, she thought to herself. "I mean, you barely ate earlier, and you seemed distracted by something."

"Like what?"

"Well… I don't know."

"Jeez, Misty," he said, seemingly going back into character. "Then why are you asking?"

"I'm worried about you," she said. It was a moment of candidness that caught both of them off guard, particularly Misty, who still had not come to terms with her feelings for Ash, especially since she also had romantic feelings for Superman, as well. The fact that she had a crush on (seemingly) two people confused her a lot, as it would for anyone who held romantic feelings for one or more people.

"Thanks, Mist," said Ash, smiling at her. Misty blushed slightly, before Ash followed it up by saying, "you're a great friend." Misty slapped herself inside, since she knew he was dense. But then again, good friends worry about their friend and try to help them out as best they can.

"You're welcome, Ash," she said in return. The two sat silently, enjoying each other's company. "You know, it's nice to have a quiet moment together," she finally said, breaking the silence. "Especially since we spend most of our time fighting."

"It does feel nice," replied Ash. "I'd kind of like it if we could have more moments like this." Misty looked at him in surprise. Maybe he was smarter than he really was. Was this thickness an act? Could he be—,

Misty stopped herself right there. _There's no way he can be Superman_, she thought to herself. _First off, it's totally ridiculous, and second, how would he hide it? There's no way he can. Besides, Superman's what, 20? Ash is 15 like me, so that might rule him out._

"Misty, are you okay?" Suddenly Misty was jolted out of her thoughts by Ash's question.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I was just thinking about something."

"About what," he asked. "Superman?"

"What? No! I wasn't thinking about him." Ash looked at her with a skeptical look, but dropped the subject anyway. Then, he lay down on the bed and invited Misty to do so. Misty blushed beet red at Ash's invitation. He was definitely acting strangely for his character.

"What?" He asked her.

"Are you actually being romantic?" She said.

Ash had no intention of fighting, so he said, "Come on, lay down and relax." Now Misty knew Ash was acting strange, but she lay down anyways, against her mind's objections. Despite being a single bed, it was surprisingly comfortable. "I know," replied Ash. Misty blushed in embarrassment, since she must not have known that she said that out loud.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" She asked just make sure.

"Yes, you did," he replied.

"Sorry," she said in an embarrassed tone of voice.

"Don't be," he replied in a (strangely) soothing tone. Misty looked at Ash once more and noticed that his face displayed a warmness that she had seen on only one person—Superman. Now she was really wondering whether he was Superman. But the relaxing feeling of the moment they were in eventually brought sleep upon her.

--

_Flashback_

"Ash, come down here, please, I want to talk to you about something," said Delia Ketchum. She looked at Professor Oak, who was in the Ketchum living room along with her and said, "Are you sure we should tell him now?"

"We have to tell him at some point Delia," he replied. "At some point, he will have to know the truth, whether today, tomorrow, or sometime in the future. He must know." Delia nodded with a sadness that Professor Oak, despite not having to deal with it before, understood completely. Soon, a 9-year-old Ash came down the stairs and into the living room.

"What is it mom?" He asked her with a smile on his face. However, that smile faded when he saw Professor Oak with her and the look on her face, which told him this was serious business. "What is it?"

"Ash," said Delia after a few moments of hesitation. "Professor Oak and I want to tell you something important," she gestured toward the couch. "Please sit down, this may take a while." Ash did as he was told, but he was still very confused about the situation.

"Mom, what's going on?"

Delia seemed to be having trouble bringing herself to tell Ash what she meant to say, so Professor Oak whispered in her ear, "let me tell him." Delia nodded, and Professor Oak turned to Ash. "Ash," he said, "it regards your birthplace. You see, you were not born anywhere near here," he said.

"Was I born in Cerulean?" He asked, totally oblivious to the gravity of the moment.

"No, you were not born in Cerulean," replied Professor Oak. "You were not even born in this country, either. You aren't even from Earth." The revelation that not only was he not even from Pallet or his homeland, but from a whole other world hit the stunned Ash like sixteen tons of bricks. In an instant, his whole world changed forever. "Your real name is Kal-El. You were born on a distant planet called Krypton, a civilization so advanced it makes our civilization look primitive in comparison. Your birth father was a man named Jor-El, who from several data disks that were sent along with you, was a leading scientist on that planet, and he apparently had the foresight to send you here, because the planet Krypton is gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"Gone, as in, well, gone. It was destroyed in a supernova that an astronomer friend of mine discovered around the time you were three. The planet was at a very good distance from ours and it amazes many of my colleagues that it only took you one year to get here when according to our physics, faster-than-light travel is almost impossible according to Albert Einstein. Apparently, they were so advanced, that they could prove Einstein wrong. I apologize for confusing you." Ash's face was as blank as a blackboard in August. The shock of the moment had left him completely speechless.

"Ash, are you okay?" Asked Delia in a worried tone.

"I think he's shocked," said Professor Oak. "I think I might be able to get him out of this, though. Ash, have you noticed that you have any strange abilities?"

"Well," he said, now that he was out of little trance. "I have noticed that I am stronger than most kids."

"That is because of the yellow sun," said Professor Oak. "Krypton orbited a red star, so it's possible exposure to a yellow star may have affected your physiology. Also, the data disks say that the gravity on Krypton is much higher than here on Earth."

"So what does that mean?"

"To be honest, I am not sure," he said. But we have noticed your abilities, especially when you were five years old, which alerted you mother and I to your abilities."

"Okay…"

"Ash, there is another thing I must tell you," he said sternly. "And you must listen carefully. You cannot—no, _MUST_ not tell anyone about your origins or your abilities, or the consequences to you, your family, or anyone else associated with you might be catastrophic." Ash nodded in fear, not wanting to go over what might happen. "I hope I haven't shattered your world, Ash." Said Professor Oak.

"Actually…" he said. "I still want to be a Pokémon Master."

--

Ash awoke in the morning slowly. He glanced over at the clock that was on the nightstand next to the bed and saw that it read "9:00". Just then he remembered the girl sleeping right next to him. She looked like an angel when she was sleeping, which was vastly different when she was awake, when she could occasionally be like a devil. But the moment was ruined when he heard with his super-hearing the sounds of a bank heist about a mile away, Normally, he'd just fly away, but with Misty in the bed with him, he had to try and get out of bed much more quietly.

He gingerly lifted her arm that had been lying on top of his chest. Then he slowly moved away from the bed, hoping that she didn't wake up. Luckily for him, she didn't. With the coast clear, Ash crept over to the window. He looked at Misty one more time and smiled. Then, he climbed into the window and leapt from the window and turned into Superman, then flew off towards the location of the bank heist.

--

"If anyone here wants to be a hero, I suggest you drop that thought right now!" A man carrying an AK-47 patrolled the bank lobby, trying to deter anyone from being the aforementioned hero. "Everyone better stay quiet, and we won't have any trouble here and we'll be out of here--,"

"As soon as I get done with you!"

"I said, no one had better a he—," He was about to finish until he saw a man clad in blue and a red cape standing in the doorway. "Who are you?"

"You've never heard of me?" Said Superman. "I thought you would have by now."

"I don't care who you are, to me you're just some freak in a silly little Halloween costume!" With that, the man opened fire at Superman. Too bad he didn't know who he was, because the bullets bounced off his easily. Hell, even if he knew who Superman was, it wouldn't have mattered anyhow. "What are you, s-s-some kind of f-f-freak?"

"No," he said with a smirk. "I'm Superman." And then he proceeded to kick ass.

--

A few minutes later, after he had been harassed by the mayor—how he had gotten there so fast, he could not tell—Superman got back to the room where he was staying as Ash, turning back into Ash as he entered the room. Luckily for him, Misty was still sleeping. But that didn't last long. "Ash?" She said in a sleepy tone. "What are you doing?"

"I just had to use the restroom, that's all," he said.

"Okay," she said. "Just don't be too loud, okay?"

"Okay, Misty."

--

At breakfast, the trio ate silently. Not because there was anything wrong with them, it was just kind of early in the morning. But of course, Misty was kind of curious about Brock's… "experience" with Nurse Joy, but she didn't ask about it anyway. Of course, Misty was happy that Ash was eating properly after yesterday, but now she was starting to feel very differently about him. For the longest time, she just saw him as a friend, but now she was starting to see him as something…else. What it was, she could not explain. After breakfast, the three decided to split up for the day and meet up at the Pokémon Center at a specified time.

So Ash went out on the town to find some supplies. As stated in a previous chapter, Star City is BIG. So, it was very difficult for Ash to find a Poké Department Store. He left Pikachu at the Pokémon Center so Pikachu could be healed from any battles he had fought previously. So Ash would not expose himself when this next incident occurred. At some point, he heard with his super-hearing an out-of-control bus, which required him to act. He ducked into a nearby alleyway and turned into Superman,

--

Gus Williams was the "old man" of the Star City Transportation Authority and could handle any problem that rose up. But when you're facing a problem like oh, brakes that were so old they should have been replaced yesterday, it's difficult to handle a problem like that. The best he could do is hang on for dear life and (try to) keep the passengers calm in this moment of crisis. "I'm doing as best I can, folks!" He said in an attempt to calm everyone down. The bus sped through the city weaving in and out of traffic in a very dangerous way. Gus had to tell the SCTA that the bus could barely stop and he had very little control over the steering.

"Oh dear God, we're going to die!" Said one very frightened passenger.

"We're not going to die as long as God is with us!" Said Gus. Gus was a very religious man, and right now he was praying as hard as he could for the bus to stop. Now the bus was on one of the overpasses that led to the downtown area when it careened over the side of it. Gus had tried to stop it, but now it seemed as though he was going to go out in a blaze, and not one of glory. The bus was filled with the screams of maybe 20 people who at the moment, thought they were going to die. Gus closed his eyes and said one more prayer, thinking this was the end.

It wasn't.

Suddenly, he felt the bus stop right before impact. He opened his eye and saw a man clad in blue with what looked like red briefs and red boots and a red cape. And he was holding the bus up a few feet above the pavement. Then they guy somehow managed to gently place the bus on the pavement—without even damaging any of the other cars on the freeway! Was this that "Superman" fellow that he had heard of? The man came through the doors of the bus and asked,

"Is everyone alright here?" The rest of the bus remained silent, apparently in awe over the fact that this one person saved all of them.

"Are you an angel?" Asked one of them, finally.

"No, I'm no angel," he replied. "I'm just one man doing my job. And you," he turned to Gus. "Gus, right?" Gus nodded. "Next time make sure that the brakes are working, okay?" Gus nodded in understanding. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I must leave now. Bye!" The man got off the bus and flew away.

--

"Where is Ash, anyway," said Misty. She and Brock were at the Pokémon Center at the specified meeting time—2 in the afternoon.

"Take it easy Misty, it's only 2:01."

"He'd better--,"

"I'd better what?" Misty's statement was cut short when Ash showed up.

"There you are!" She said. "We've been waiting for you!"

"You've been waiting for him" Brock corrected. "You've been waiting here longer than I have."

"I'm still mad," she said.

"Look, I got the supplies, okay Misty? And I got the baby formula for Togepi." He took out a bottle of said baby formula--Pokémon baby formula, to be exact.

"Well, I suppose you did do what I asked," she said. "Alright, let's get some lunch,"

"Now we're talking!" Said Ash. And the three headed off for lunch.

--

Yes, I know the ending kind of sucked, but it was the best way to end it. I hope none of you were suffering from ending fatigue, though.

Review, please.


	10. The Battle of Star City

Ash Ketchum: Superman, Chapter 9

--

It had been 3 days since Ash/Superman had saved a bus from crashing and stopped an attempted bank robbery. The whole of Star City had suddenly realized that the hero of Summer City was spotted in their city. The whole damn media of the city had picked it up and now it was practically impossible for anyone to escape coverage of Superman. Ash, Misty and Brock, however, ignored it. Sort of. At first the news caught Brock and Misty by surprise—not Ash, of course—but then they got used to it. At the same time, reporters tried to ask Misty for an interview, but she had to tell them that she hadn't seen Superman lately.

So right now Ash was having a battle with a trainer from Goldenrod City in one of downtown Star City's parks. Misty was silently reading a book while Togepi took a nap while Brock officiated the match. And tried to hit on some girls, despite his, well, stand with Nurse Joy. And no, none of them said yes.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. Pikachu dodged a strike from his opponent, a Seviper, then charged his cheeks and unleashed an electric attack at the poisonous snake. The Seviper screamed in pain of being hit with I'm-not-sure-how-many volts of electricity. When Pikachu finished, the snake dropped to the ground

"Seviper is unable to battle!" Brock said. "Pikachu wins!"

"YES!" Ash cheered. "You give up yet?" Ash asked his opponent.

"Are you kidding me?" The trainer asked. "I'm just getting warmed up! Go, Donphan!" The trainer released a Poke Ball and out popped the elephant-like Pokemon. The Donphan bellowed once it was called, ready to battle.

"Pikachu, return!" Ash called. Pikachu obeyed its trainer and returned to his side. Ash reached for his Poke Ball belt and pulled one out and threw it. "Bayleef, go get 'im!"

"Bay! Bay!" The grass-type called once it was released.

"Donphan, use rollout!" The trainer called. The Donphan curled itself into a wheel and hurled itself at Bayleef. Without Ash's command—which was a good thing—Bayleef dodged the incoming Donphan. However, the Donphan was able to just nick Bayleef on its leg.

"Hang in there, Bayleef!" Ash called. "Use Razor Leaf!" Bayleef twirled her head around, also twirling the leaf on her head, then launched some leafs like throwing stars at the incoming Donphan, but they bounced off the elephant-like Pokemon like bullets bouncing off Superman. Bayleef realized that the leaves weren't doing any good and tried to dodge Donphan's attack. Unfortunately it was too little too late and bayleef was struck by Donphan and tumbled on the ground a bit. But the stubborn Pokemon got up, determined to continue fighting. "Okay, that's not going to work," said Ash. "Use Body slam!"

"Bay!" Bayleef circled the Donphan, trying to find a weak spot. That's when it saw an opening—attack from the side! Bayleef charged Donphan and with great timing, slammed into Donphan, sending the elephant reeling.

"There you go!" Said Ash. The Donphan struggled to stand up, but Bayleef's attack must have done something right, because Donphan collapsed. It was over.

"Donphan is unable to battle!" called Brock. "The Trainer is out of usable Pokemon! Ash Ketchum wins!"

"YEAH!!!!" True to his enthusiastic act, Ash leapt in the air and pumped his fist in celebration while Pikachu flashed the 'V for Victory' sign.

"You did great Donphan," said the trainer. "Return!" A red light enveloped Donphan and the Pokemon returned to its ball. "Great battle, Ash!" Said the trainer.

"Hey, no problem," said Ash. "If you want to battle again, just call me."

"Wow, Ash, that was some good sportsmanship on your part," said Misty. "Usually you're mocking them."

"You know, I am more of a good sport than you think," said Ash.

"Guys, how about we not get into any fights," said Brock. His plan to stop the fight before anything got worse seemed to work because Ash and Misty began to calm down a bit.

"Yeah sure," said Misty. "So I guess I'll meet you guys back in the Pokemon Center."

"Why?" Ash said, confused.

"Because Togepi's still sleeping, that's why," she said, pointing to the egg-shaped Pokemon.

"Oh, sorry," said Ash. "I guess we'll see you later then," he said as he walked away.

"Okay, by then," Misty replied. Now it was just Togepi and her; and some trashy Harlequin romance. That's right, I sad it! I called it trash, you want a piece of me? Any way, it was just a guilty pleasure for her. The book was about some girl who fell head over heels for some superhero or something of that nature. Standard Harlequin stuff. The names of the characters were Clark and Lois or something like that. The girl couldn't tell if she was in love with Clark or that superhero—even though Clark was secretly the superhero.

But for some reason, it got Misty to think about Superman. Was she in love with him? Or As—wait, Ash? No, she couldn't be in love with him!

But that got her thinking, what does Superman have to do with Ash? Her thoughts were broken when Togepi woke up and began to cry. Obviously her book would have to wait a while. "Oh, sorry, Togepi, let's get you something to eat now," she said as she took the egg Pokemon inside.

--

Misty walked into the Pokemon Center to see Ash and Brock watching CNN very intently, which was strange, considering they rarely ever paid any attention to the news. And it didn't look as though they were excited. Actually, quite a few people were watching the broadcast for some reason. "Um, Ash, what's going on here?" She asked.

"I'm not sure," said Ash. "The Pentagon is reporting some strange activity,and they're keeping an eye on it. They're not sure what it is, exactly." That was strange. Ash was actually paying attention! To the news! But wait, what did he say?

"The Pentagon?" She asked. The fact that the _Pentagon_ was involved in this made it even stranger and even terrifying.

"Yeah, but they're not sure what it is," he said.

"Pikaaa," Pikachu said in a worried voice.

"I guess you're nervous, huh buddy?" He asked. Pikachu nodded his head in confirmation.

"Whatever it is," Brock said. "It looks bad."

--

As time went by, rumors began to spread about just what exactly was going on. Since CNN or Fox—oh wait, those guys didn't care—or MSNBC couldn't tell what was going on, the people in the Pokemon Center began to speculate just what was going on.

"I hear it's some new Pokemon!" Was one rumor.

"Maybe it's Team Rocket," was another.

"That's silly, it's somebody else!" Somebody said to shoot it down.

"Maybe it's Mew!" Said another one.

"Or Celebi!"

"Maybe it's aliens!"

These rumors spread like wildfire and pretty soon the Pokemon Center was filled with them. At dinner that night, the trio could not escape the rumors, either. Which was getting on Misty's nerves.

"I swear, if anyone brings up some stupid conspiracy again, I'm going to unleash a Gyarados on them."

"But you don't have a Gyarados," said Brock.

"I'll catch one just so I can unleash one!" She yelled back. The prospective breeder recoiled at the redhead's famed temper.

"Wow, Misty, usually you're not this mad at something," said Ash. "Unless it's me."

"You'd better not be spreading rumors," Misty said with a glare on her face.

"I'm not!" He said. _But I am wondering what in the world is going on. Could it be related to Team Rocket? I mean, their boss does want me dead._

"Hello, Earth to Ash!" Misty said, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," he said. "I got a little distracted."

"Distracted is looking a coin when the professor's talking," said Misty. "You were in a whole other dimension."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Ash. His statement confused Misty, since he thought he would try to argue with her.

"You know, you've been acting strange lately," she said. "Is something going on?"

"I have?" He asked to keep up the image of stupidity. "I didn't know that."

"You're stupid, you know that?" She asked.

"Hey! I am _not _stupid!"

"Well, at least you're acting the same now!" She said.

--

"Those fools in the government, they don't know what's going on! We begin the Operation tomorrow!"

--

Once again, Misty had a hard time trying to find Ash. And yes, she did knock on doors this time. She didn't want to run into Brock and Nurse Joy doing… you know. But again, she slapped herself mentally when she forgot that she did not check the room they were in. She was bad at this!

Meanwhile, Ash lay on the bed in the group's room. His thoughts were mostly about the strange activity that got the Pentagon's attention. What in the world was going on? And soon, his thoughts turned to Misty. Yes, it was stupid, but he had such a damn crush on her. But that also got him thinking. Although she hadn't been showing it lately, she seemed to indicate she was in love with him. As in, Superman. Now that should be exciting, but to Ash, it wasn't. He wanted her to like him--_all _of him, both Superman and Ash.

But he also slapped himself mentally. He may be a teenager, but this level of angst? It was too much for him! Especially considering his obfuscating stupidity. He knew he had to get Misty to love both him and Superman. But how?

"There you are," she said. Speak of the devil. "I've been looking for you."

"Again?" He asked. She must have forgotten he was here in the room the whole time again.

"I guess I forgot," she said. 'What are you doing?"

"I'm just relaxing," he said. He also pointed to Pikachu, who was taking a nap on the desk in the room.

"Are you thinking about something?" She asked.

"Um, why do you ask?"

"Because you've acting… smarter lately," she said. "Are you secretly a genius?" Ash gave her a blank look, as he suspected she was catching on to him. If she did, then that would not be good for his cover. "Forget it, the idea that you're a genius is the most ridiculous thing imaginable."

Now since she said that, he was secretly relieved. But in order to play it up, he had to play offended. "Hey! I'm nit that stupid!"

"Oh really?" She said. "Now you're acting like the Ash I know!"

"I don't know whether to know if I should be mad or happy," he said.

"Whatever, Do you mind if I lay down with you?" Ash blushed beet red, as he was caught off guard by Misty's request. Sure, he had invited her 3 or 4 nights ago, but for her to ask to join him was the surprising aspect.

"Um, sure," he said. He blushed as she lay down next to him on the bed. He looked over at her and got some relief when he saw he wasn't the only one blushing, as she was a red as the shirt for Manchester United.

"This is… nice," she said nervously.

"I guess so," he said. Unlike the last time, it was a more awkward moment than they wanted. "So, what do you think of Superman?" He asked.

"He's okay," she said. "I might be in love with him, though."

"He's five years older than you," Ash said. Obviously a smart move on his part.

"Um, I guess that is a problem," she said. "But I wonder if it's just some silly schoolgirl crush though."

"It might be," he said.

"But he saved my life," she said. "Twice. Obviously I'm grateful for that."

"But if you two got together, he'd be accused of being a pedophile," he said. He was actually insulting himself! But Misty had to realize that Ash was technically right.

"Wow, that is a bad thing," she said. "I wonder if it is a schoolgirl crush."

"But what do you think about me?" He asked. It seemed to Misty that he blurted it out, but he actually had planned on saying it.

"Wow, you are acting different," she said. Oh great, she was catching on to him! "Are you jealous of Superman?" Then again, maybe not.

"Um, no," he said to cover it up. "But how would you react if you knew I was smarter than I let on?"

"Why, do you do that?" She asked.

"I'm just asking," he said defensively.

"Okay, then, I probably would like you a little more. Of course, if you were still the same asshole, then I probably wouldn't."

"Did you just call me an asshole?" He asked.

"Maybe," she said. "But I don't think you're an asshole. Just a little hot-headed at times."

"Thanks for nothing," he said under his breath. The two stayed silent for a while longer. They got comfortable, strangely comfortable, feeling as though was—gasp—perfect.

"This is strangely romantic," Misty said. Ash blushed a little bit, as she had essentially blurted the statement out. She also blushed, since she really did not mean to say that. After a while, though, the two fell a sleep and Misty, without even thinking, curled up next Ash and lay her head on his shoulder.

--

Flashback

Professor Samuel Oak, previously of the University of California, Los Angeles, worked in his Pallet Town laboratory examining a sample of cells from a Pikachu's electric sacs to see how they stored electricity. His finding hadn't come up with anything yet, and it had taken him some years to figure it out. He took a breath as he moved away from his microscope to get something to eat, probably a tofu and anchovie pizza.

While he was enjoying his pizza, the doorbell rang. "Now who could that be?" He asked to no one in particular. He went to his door and opened the door to see 26-year-old Delia Ketchum, who used to be a student of his at UCLA. "Hello, Delia," he said.

"Professor, I have a problem," she said. She seemed to have a confused look on her face. Something must have been bothering her.

"Well, what is it?" He asked.

"It's about Ash," she said.

"Oh, yes, your son," he said. "What is it?"

"Well, some strange things have been going on with him," she said. "Just recently, he sneezed and blew the feathers off a flock of bird Pokemon. Then, he was able to lift my car like a feather!"

"What?" Professor Oak asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes, and this is all true, Professor," she said. "And actually, I never told you this, but he's not my real son."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I found him," she said.

"Found him?" He asked, even more dumbfounded. "Where did you find him?"

"In a spaceship."

End flashback

--

The day that changed everything started off like any day. Sort of. Ash and Misty were sleeping in their room in the Pokemon Center peacefully. Had you looked in on them you would have thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Anyway, the were sleeping peacefully until—

_**BOOM!!!!**_

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion and the room shaking jolted them awake. Pikachu had fallen off the desk and was just as disoriented as the both of them. Out of instinct, Misty grabbed onto Ash, which the Kryptonian didn't mind—he was grabbing on to her, as well. "What the fuck is going on?" She asked.

"I don't know!" He replied. The sounds of more explosions and the sound of people clamoring in the hall told them that something very bad was going on.

"Is it a new 9/11?" She asked.

"I don't know!" _Is this related to the strange activity? _He thought. _It's gotta be! There's no other explanation for this!_ Determined to find out what was going on, Ash ran to the window. Outside, he could see helicopters getting troops into the city. From what it seemed, this attack had been going on for a while now. He could hear the sounds of gunfire and he could smell the smoke from several explosions. He even saw some explosions. It looked like a war zone outside. "It's total chaos out there!" He yelled over the noise.

"Guys, are you okay?" Brock came into the room and stood in the door. Outside, several people ran past the

"Brock, what's going on?" Ash asked.

"The whole city is under attack!" He said. "The army and the National Guard are fighting with some unknown force! And we're to be evacuated to the bomb shelter underneath the Pokemon Center until further notice, now come on!" He didn't need to tell them twice. The two scrambled out of the room—save for Misty, whole had to grab a crying Togepi—and headed downstairs to the lobby.

The lobby was a scene of panic. The people in the Pokemon Center tried to scramble for the bomb shelter like a herd of cattle. The people inside clamored about, screaming and trying to speculate just who was attacking. Some said that they had seen what looked like Team Rocket members. Several US National Guardsmen, the police and Nurse Joy were trying to keep people calm, but the confusion and panic was too much. "Everybody hurry, into the bomb shelter!" Said one Gaurdsman.

"Please, stay calm!" Said Nurse Joy. "I know you're scared, but please stay as calm as possible!"

"Nurse Joy!" Said on Guardsman. "The enemy's headed this way! Get these people to the bomb shelter!"

"Dude, I saw them!" Said one trainer. "It's Team Rocket! They're attacking the whole country!"

"Even LA and New York?" said Nurse Joy.

"I think so," said the trainer. "I just saw reports of it on CNN!"

"Okay but please, head for the bomb shelter" She said to him/ "It's the only location in the building safe from attack!

"Ash, come on!" Said Brock. He had fallen behind the two and was struggling to keep up. "Ash, let's go!"

"I'm trying!" He shouted, struggling against the crowd of people. That's when he saw the attack on TV and when he knew he had to do something. _Now_. With the whole place confused, he ran away from the crowd and to the phone booths upstairs. They were the perfect place to change. Pikachu tried to chase after him, but the crowd was so thick that he had no luck at all.

Ash had to hurry to not be seen by any Guardsmen or people. He managed to find the phone booths and got into one.

--

Outside the Pokemon Center, a company of soldiers, plus some tanks fired at an incoming enemy. They had detected the enemy force's movements last night and were able to get to Star City in time to defend it. The commanding officer, Col. Raymond Rodriguez checked his watch. It was 10:00 in the morning. The attack had been going on for two hours now. How the rest of the city had failed to notice it at 8:00, which was making the evacuations all the more difficult. And he did not like the fact that the people in the Pokemon Center were heading for the bomb shelter instead of evacuating. But he had to concede that it was the safest place for them to be. "Hold your positions!" He called to them. It was a futile command, but it had to be said.

To his right, an incoming M1 Abrams Tank fired a round down the street. The shell seemed to hit something because there was an explosion about a mile away.

"Colonel!" Called one soldier, a lieutenant.

"Have any civilians been evacuated?" He asked.

"We've just cleared one building out, sir," said the lieutenant. "The Pokemon Center is completely empty, so we guess the civilians got to the bomb shelter in time!"

"Excellent work, soldier!" The colonel yelled over the noise. He turne to the other soldiers and said, "Now let's hold these bastards!"

"But they keep advancing, sir!" Said one soldier.

"I don't care! We stop them right here!" The colonel yelled.

"Colonel, they're coming into view!" Called another one.

"Alright then, you may fire at will! Fire at will!" The colonel yelled. With that, the soldiers began firing their weapons at the enemy. The enemy continued to advance, despite the fierce resistance from the American soldiers. The colonel winced, seeing the enemy's tanks approaching despite his soldier's best efforts.

"Colonel, should we retreat?" Said one officer.

"No!" He said. "We hold them here, dammit!" Just then, they heard a voice as though it was being broadcast via loudspeaker. And in their radios!

"Prepare for trouble!" Came a menacing female voice.

"And make it double!" Came a male voice.

"To inflict the world with devastation!"

"To enslave all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the goods of truth and love!"

"To extend our rule to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to _die!_"

"Mee-yowth! Dat's right!"

"Waaaahhhh-buffet!"

"Team Rocket!" Said one soldier, who was starting to panic.

"Well, colonel Rodriguez, do you surrender?" Jesse said over the radio.

"Never!" Col. Rodriguez replied.

"Oh well, then prepare to _die!"_ She screamed. The advancing Rocket Soldiers didn't look like the normal ones. They wore professional body armor and helmets that looked much like the ones the US Army wore. They were all heavily armed, carrying weapons that ranged from M16's to AK-47's. They were supported by tanks and mechs that had the distinct red 'R" painted on them. They took whatever hit them from the American soldiers. Nothing fazed them. The biggest difference between these soldiers and the national Guardsmen and regular Army was that they wore black, save for white boots. The red 'R' was on the front and on the helmet.

The Rockets began to fire on the National Guardsmen and Army regulars, who returned fire. It turned into a fierce firefight. Several Rockets did go down, but they were only a small amount. "These bastards just keep comin'!" Yelled one soldier.

"Don't let up!" Said Col. Rodriguez. "Keep the pressure on, they're sure to break at some point!"

--

In the bomb shelter in the Pokemon Center, Misty and Brock sat among the nervous and frightened people. They heard muffled explosions above them. It was mostly silent, save for some who were saying prayers for whatever religion they were, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Bahai'i, you name it. Just then, Misty realized something. "Oh no, where's Ash!"

"I'm not sure, I think he made it though," said Brock. But that wasn't good enough for Misty. The look on her face showed more than concern, but fear for him. The fact that Ash was not here in this one room scared the living daylights out of her.

"Oh no, maybe he didn't make it!" She said. _Ash, no!_ "I have to find him!" She yelled out loud.

"Misty, are you crazy?" Brock asked.

"I don't care!" She said. "Ash may be in trouble!" Before Brock could do anything to stop her, she got up from her seat and took off toward the entrance of the bomb shelter.

"Where are you going?" Asked Nurse Joy.

"To find my friend!" Misty replied.

"Misty, you can't go out there, it's too dangerous!" Brock said.

"I don't _CARE_!!!" She screamed. "I need to find Ash!"

"Wherever he is, he's probably evacuated!" Said Brock. "Don't be foolish!"

"I still need to find him!" She yelled as she went for the door. She tried to open it, but it was practically impossible. Misty stopped, fearing that she might not be able to get to him. _No, Ash!_

--

A soldier fell to the ground, wounded in the crossfire between the National Guardsmen and the Rocket soldiers. "Medic! MEEEEDIIIIIC!!" He cried in pain. A medic rushed to his side to try and help him. Col. Rodriguez winced. These Rockets just wouldn't die! They needed something.

"Where the hell is our air support!?" He yelled.

"I'm trying!" Called a soldier.

"Keep trying!" Another round came, and another soldier fell to the ground. He was losing soldiers fast! If this kept up, they'd have to fall back and give up more to the Rockets. And he just wasn't going to do that.

"Colonel!" Called the radioman. "There's something approaching us at a very high—," Suddenly, something whizzed over their heads.

"What the fuck was that?" Rodriguez shouted. The UFO flew towards the rockets and smashed into a Rocket mech, tearing right through! The soldiers cheered in response, while Rodriguez looked on in amazement. Then, the figure landed in front of the Rockets, kneeling down. The figure had a red cape on. It was then that Rodriguez knew who it was. "It's Superman!" The soldiers cheered and hollered in response. They had a chance now!

"Superman!?" Cried Jesse.

"What are you doing here?" James said.

"I'm here to end this," said Superman. "I suggest you all leave. Now!"

"Nevah!" Said Meowth. "Take this!" He pushed a button on a remote. A mech began to move and opened up its chest cavity, revealing a missile. The Gaurdsmen and Army regulars recoiled in horror, but Col. Rodriguez urged them to stay calm. Superman, however, was unfazed.

"Is that your best shot?" He taunted.

"Hey! Shut up!" Meowth yelled. "Take dis!" He pressed the button again and the missile fired from the mech. Superman just turned around and protected himself with his cape. The missile srtuck the cape and exploded, sending a shockwave that knocked out some windows and knocked down the soldiers resisting Team Rocket. And there was a smoldering crater where Superman was. Meowth sneered, thinking he had killed him. But to his horror, he saw some red within the crater. The soldiers cheered when they saw Superman rise from the ground and stand firm before the Rocket soldiers. "What da!"

"You seem to forget," said Superman. "Nothing can kill me."

"Grrrrr, we'll just see about that!" Screamed Jesse. "Rocket soldiers! Fire at will!" The Rockets proceeded to open fire on Superman, unleashing their entire arsenal. The bullets bounced off Superman easily, and he just had to shake his head. Who ever was in charge of this was completely stupid. Not only is it foolish to simply march down the street without any cover at all, but to try and shoot Superman is another. "Cease fire!" She called again. Superman stood alone, shaking his head. Now it was the Rockets' turn to panic.

"My turn," he said.

--

"Dammit!" Misty yelled. "I can't take it anymore!" She was done waiting for Ash and was now going to try and escape the bomb shelter.

"Oh no, you're not!" Said Brock as he grabbed her wrist. It was a bad idea, because she just kicked him in the chest. Gently, of course, she wasn't going to hurt him, but enough to get him to let go of her. She sprinted toward the door with Brock in hot pursuit. "Misty, wait!"

"Where are you going?" Nurse Joy asked.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here!" She said. "I don't care what Brock says, I'm not going to stay here while Ash is missing!"

"Misty, you already tried to open the door!" Said Brock. "It won't work again!"

"Well I'm going to try it again!" She said. "And you can't stop me!"

"Misty!" Brock tired to grab her, but she was too fast for him. Finally, she reached the door. Togepi cried in her bag, which made Misty's job a little more difficult.

"Sshhh, I'm sorry Togepi," she said quietly. She grabbed the door wheel and tried to turn it as hard as she could/ She must have been straining her muscles or something, because it was becoming painful to do so. But she had to make sure Ash was okay! She had to get out! She put all of her will power into turning that wheel! She groaned and grunted as suddenly, the wheel began turning!

"That's impossible!" Said Nurse Joy. "Nobody can move that, neither man nor woman!"

"Then that's about to change!" Misty said. Her face was beet red from the strain of the trying to turn the wheel. It was slowly, but surely, turning. It was going to open! Just a little more…

The rest of the people inside the shelter watched in amazement at Misty actually opening the door! She strained as hard as she could to open that door. And then finally, she felt almost no resistance. She had opened it! Through sheer force of will! "Yes!" She said and opened the door and ran out.

Brock, who had been stunned by what just happened, snapped back to reality and realized that Misty had just opened the door and gotten out! "Misty, wait!" He called as he ran after her.

"Pikachupi!" The two ran after Misty, who had gotten up the stairs and into the back room of the Center.

Misty, meanwhile, had gotten inside the main part of the Pokemon Center. The bomb shelter was in the back, and was built in the 1950s. If you know anything about history of that time, you can understand why. But she made it into the main part of the Pokemon Center and found herself in an unfamiliar location. She tried to find a building map before she realized she was in the hallway where most of the examination rooms were. She must have forgotten how the get there.

The Pokemon Center was mostly silent, which was obvious since everyone was down in the bomb shelter. She could hear the faint sounds of the fighting going on outside. Apparently, whoever was attacking was tough enough to deal with the army. She found the way to the main lobby on the map and took off in that direction. About a minute later, Brock managed to show up. But since Misty had already left, he was alone with Pikachu. "Misty!" He called. But it was futile, since Misty didn't hear a thing he said.

Meanwhile, Misty was panting as she ran to the main lobby. The sounds of guns were getting louder, so she knew she was getting close. And how the Pokemon Center was able to keep its electricity on surprised her, since she though the generators would have been taken out. But that didn't matter right now. She had to get to the lobby. Finally, she got to the lobby. On the screen was a news report about the attacks going on.

"…_The Pentagon is saying that the known terrorist organization Team Rocket is behind these attacks. Already there have been attacks in Los Angeles, Summer City, Star City, Goldenrod City, Saffron City, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Boston and Baltimore. The Pentagon says they're doing—and we just got this news report now. Apparently, in Star City, Superman himself is helping the army resist Team Rocket!"_

Superman? Misty smiled widely. They had a chance now! He could save all of them and stop this! He must be fighting outside right now. Misty began to make her way to the exit, but she stopped when she heard something. "Wigglytuff, Wi-i-i-igglyt-u-u-u-u-ff," Suddenly, she began to feel sleepy. Oh, no! It was a Wigglytuff using Sing! She tried to fight it, but no matter how hard she tried, the song bore into her head like a drill and made her even drowsier. And what's worse, Togepi had stopped crying. She must have succumbed to the attack! Misty tried to cover her ears, but it was too little too late, and she was getting sleepy. Soon, she could not resist anymore and fell to the ground. Brock, meanwhile, came in a minute later, and much like her, heard the same Wigglytuff singing. But unlike her, he didn't stand a chance and he fell down, too. Pikachu came in 30 seconds later and suffered the same fate as his comrades.

But Misty still struggle to stay awake. She would _not _give in this easily. But the Wigglytuff was still singing and she closed her eyes and went to sleep. But before she did, she saw a pair of white boots coming towards her.

--

"Get I'm! Get 'im!" The Rockets fired on Superman in a futile effort. How many times must they do this? Meanwhile, Superman fought the Rockets hard, punching and kicking them all the while. And mind you, he's going easy on them and they're getting tossed around like a leaf in the wind. He felt a jolt in his back suddenly and turned around to see what it was. A Rocket tank had fired on him and was most likely going to do it again. He flew over to the tank and then, lifted the front of the tank up, before moving towards the middle and lifting it over his head. Inside, the crewmembers panicked and tried to get out, but he smashed it on a Rocket mech before they even had a chance. Fortunately for them, though, they were pretty much unharmed.

Next, a Rocket mech. Superman flew at the mech and used his x-ray vision to locate the machinery. He found the main motor in the robot's torso and thrust his hand into the robot's torso. However, that didn't work so he grabbed on the side of the robot and used his heat ray vision to cut the robot's armor. Once he was done with that, he peeled the robot's armor back as though it was a can of sardines. With the motor now in sight, he grabbed it and _ripped_ it out of the robot's chest. The robot fell backwards, now a simple pile of junk.

"You bastard!" Screamed a Rocket member. He ran up to Superman and held up a rocket launcher. This should be interesting. The Rocket soldier aimed his rocket launcher at Superman and fired from close range. Once again, Superman took his cape and shielded himself using it. There was an explosion and the Rocket soldier smiled, thinking he had succeeded. But to his horror, Superman was still standing there, shaking his head. Then he reached for the Rocket soldier. The Rocket was scared stiff, thinking Superman was going to kill him. But he was in for a surprise when he instead grabbed the rocket launcher he had and bent it like a pretzel. The Rocket soldier, not wanting anything else to happen, simply ran away.

Jessie, meanwhile, was _furious. _"How dare you make a mockery of Team Rocket!" She yelled. Too bad she wasn't in much of a position to say that. Superman had essentially laid waste to the Rocket army. The mechs, the tanks, the soldiers were all in disarray after he had done his work. There was just no way they could stop him.

"You're the ones attacking!" Said Superman. "I suggest you stop now. You're clearly beaten! If you don't I'll have to--,"

"Silence, you!" She cried.

"Um, Jessie, I think it's been established that he's much better than--," James was cut off when a tank round flew past his head. Inspired by Superman, the National Guardsmen and army Regulars, were beginning to fight back. And now they were getting some air support. "Jessie, maybe we should retreat!" James said.

Jessie growled, unhappy with the situation, but she was forced into a corner. Superman was handing their asses to them on a platter and the army was beginning to fight back. "Fall back!" She called. "Fall back and regroup!" But there would be no regroup for her, James and Meowth, because a tank round hit the mech they were standing on, sending them flying.

"We're blasting of agaaaaiiiiiiin!"

"Waaaahhh-buffet!" The trio flew through the air at a high speed before disappearing.

Meanwhile, Superman watched the trio fly before turning tot he Rocket soldiers. Without their leaders, they began their retreat. Meanwhile, Col. Rodriguez ordered his men after the Rocket soldiers, leaving Superman behind. That was when he saw the opportunity to head back to the Pokemon Center.

--

When he arrived, he made sure no one saw him turn back into Ash. The Pokemon Center was a good distance from the combat area, so the Center had escaped relatively unscathed, save for some clear damage, possibly from unexploded shells. It was deceptively quiet, but that was understandable since everyone was in the bomb shelter. But how would he make it seem as though he was inside the building the whole time? He could get to those phone booths and pretend to hide in there and play up the coward act.

He slowly entered the Pokemon Center, looking to see if there was anyone inside. Luckily, no one was there and he flashed a smile. In the distance, there were still sounds of fighting, and his super hearing could pick up some celebrations by National Guardsmen. Apparently, things were going well. He crept silently into the Center, hoping he wasn't seen or heard by anybody. So far so good. If could make it to—then, he heard it. "Wigglytuff…" A Wigglytuff! Oh, no!

He tried to cover his ears and make a break for the staircase at the end of the lobby, but his super hearing picked up the sound of the Wigglytuff's song anyway. He searched for the location of the Wigglytuff desperately, only to realize that it was coming from the speaker! While the TV showed images of battle and the occasional jubilant soldier, the song of the Wigglytuff bore into his brain. Try as hard as he might, he could not resist the lullaby and dropped to the floor. But he tried to stay awake as long as possible, but only managed to catch a glimpse of white boots before he fell asleep.

--

"Excellent. The Boss will be pleased once he finds out we got all of them."

--

End chapter

Notes

SEVEN FRICKIN' MONTHS!!! It took me so long to finally get to work on this thing, and now, chapter 10! So, what did you think? I think it might be one of the best chapters so far. And there's approximately 3 chapters remaining! So stay tuned for updates!


	11. I Believe in You

Ash Ketchum: Superman Chapter 10

--

Delia watched the news reports of the attacks with growing concern, not only for Ash, but also for the events on the TV screen. Pallet Town itself was full of worried citizens, who feared their town was next. The confusion of the reporters didn't help much, either. Professor Oak, however, being the town's most famous citizen, did his best to keep everyone calm. But a sense of panic still permeated the town--until they heard about Superman.

The hero of Summer City was in Star City? Suddenly the people were filled with hope. Hope that maybe this attack will end. They watched as Superman lay waste to the Team Rocket army in Star City. And once they saw that news of Superman's appearance gave hope to the soldiers in the other cities, they started to gain that sense of hope that Team Rocket will be defeated.

Delia watched the news reports closely. The anchor was talking about how some Rocket attacks had been suppressed in Chicago and Los Angeles, but there was still heavy fighting going on in other parts of the country, and Washington was on high alert for any possible attack. Witnesses described the attacks as best they could. Some talked about Superman. It comforted Delia to know that Ash was okay, since Superman was able to successfully stop the attack in Star City. But that changed when she heard her doorbell ring. "I'm coming," she said as she got up from her chair. She walked over tot he door and opened it. But when she saw the person behind the door she instantly regretted opening it.

"Hello, Delia."

--

The next thing Ash remembered was a feeling of light-headedness one feels after waking up from anesthesia. It was slightly disorienting and it was difficult for him to tell exactly where he was. But there was a light, so he knew he was in a room with a window, and he could he the comforter of a bed underneath him. Slowly, his vision came back and he began to see that he was in a bedroom of some kind, although he wasn't exactly sure whose room it was.

He made a big yawn, as he was starting to wake up more, this time positioning his body so that he was sitting upright instead of laying on his stomach, which was the position he was in when he began to wake up. Slowly, he began to see where he was. He noticed a few items in the room that—

Wait, he recognized everything! He quickly realized that he was in _his _bedroom in Pallet Town. But what was he doing there? Then, he remembered the Wigglytuff. Somehow, he must have been transported here. He was about to get up out of bed when he heard footsteps approaching his room. Quickly, he got back into the same position he was in when he woke up and pretended to be asleep still. Using his super-hearing, he listened for the footsteps. He heard the door open to his room and a gruff voice said. "Get up!" Ash pretended to still be groggy, getting up off the bed slowly. "I said get up! Now!" Ash had to comply with the man's orders, since it seemed as though he was threatening him. Slowly, he turned around to notice a Rocket grunt pointing an AK-47. "The Boss wants to see you. Now." Now since the grunt most likely did not know Ash was invincible, he had to play it safe, so there was no way he was going to push his luck. The grunt gestured for Ash to leave the room. Ash got off the bed and walked past the grunt before said grunt pointed his gun at Ash's back to make him keep walking.

"Ash!" Said his mom. The scene awaiting Ash was not one he wanted to see once he got downstairs and into the living room. The room was filled with armed Rockets, Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy, Domino, and finally, a man wearing a tangerine business suit.

"Hello Ash," he said. "I've been wanting to meet you for some time."

"Who are you?" Ash said.

"Why, how rude," said the man. "Although I guess I must introduce myself. I am Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket."

_So that's Giovanni_, Ash thought. No, duh. Other people were also in the room, which was not good for Ash. His mother, Misty and Brock were seated and Pikachu was in a glass container, and appeared to be sedated. _Crap_.

"I know of your tricks Ash," Giovanni said. "I've been watching you for some time now." That almost sounded creepy; too creepy. "I know your tricks Ash, that's why Pikachu here is not only contained, but sedated. Also, you'll notice that your Poke Balls are gone." Instinctively, Ash reached for his belt and realized that he had no Poke Balls. He was essentially at Giovanni's mercy, and not in a great position to reveal his secret.

"What do you want?" Said Ash.

"Come now, don't get too testy," said Giovanni. "You're not exactly in a position to fight back, so I suggest you do what I say, and sit down." With the Rockets pointing their guns at him, he slowly sat down on the couch, in between Misty and Delia. "Bring him in," Giovanni said. Ash could not tell what he was talking about until he saw the front door open and Professor Oak stepped in with his arms raised and a Rocket grunt pointing a rifle to his back. Next came Tracey and Gary, who were also being held at gunpoint. This was not good. "Well then," Giovanni said. "You have been interfering with my plans for some time now, Ash." Oh, crap! Did he know he was Superman? As got nervous, thinking Giovanni had discovered his secret identity. "You and that Superman!" Ash had to take a sigh of relief. Giovanni did not know he was Superman.

"So what do you plan to do with me?" Ash asked.

"Oh, don't ask that," Giovanni said. "But don't worry, it won't be anything too bad." He didn't know whether or not Giovanni knew he was coming across as a predator. "However, I might go lenient on you."

"Oh really?" Ash asked. "What?"

"Oh, forget it, I really want to enjoy this right now. But I'm not sure if you know this Ash, but you and I have connections," he said. He turned to Ash's mom and said, "Delia, would you care to explain?" Delia? Did he know Ash's mom or something?

"I refuse to speak to you," she said. "I refuse to be associated with a criminal like you."

"Oh, come now Delia," he said slyly. It wasn't a funny sly, but a menacing one. "You can't deny what happened in the past, so admit it!"

"Mrs. Ketchum, what's he talking about?" Misty asked. She only moved a little bit, but a Rocket grunt held her down by grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Now now, don't get too hasty little girl," said Jessie. "Let the Boss speak and wait your turn."

"Thank you Jessie," Giovanni said. He turned to Delia again and said, "Remember, when we were at UCLA? When he had Professor Oak as our professor?"

"Um, mom?" Ash asked. "What does he mean?"

"He was just a classmate of mine, Ash," she said. "I didn't really know him and I never talked to him."

"Really Delia, if you're going to lie, then do a better job," Giovanni said in mock offense.

"Mom, he knows you by name," Ash said. "What's he talking about?"

"Yes, Delia, what am I talking about?" Giovanni asked. "Or, if you don't want to answer, then I'll ask Professor Oak. Professor?"

"The only thing I'll say is that though you were one of my bests students, your megalomania began to manifest early. That's all I will say," Professor Oak said.

"My, Professor Oak, that wasn't very nice," Giovanni said. "Well, Delia?"

"Mom?"

"He tired to ask me out once," she said. "I turned him down because he had a reputation—"

"Delia, stop beating around the bush and answer him!" Giovanni yelled.

"Talk to the Boss now!" Jessie yelled, making a move towards Delia. It was a bad move and Ash got up from his seat to stop her, but the Rocket grunts grabbed him. Now he could have easily overpowered them, but the situation didn't call for that.

"Jessie, I specifically ordered you _not _to touch or harm the hostages," Giovanni said.

"My apologies, Boss Giovanni," said Jessie, backing off from Delia. Giovanni gestured to the Rocket grunts and they let go of Ash, who sat back down on the couch.

"Now the, where were we," Giovanni said. "Oh yes, Delia, tell them the truth about us!"

Delia looked at everyone in the room. She deduced she had no other choice, since Giovanni could easily order them to be killed if she stalled any further. She took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I'll tell."

"Good then," Giovanni said. "Delia, tell them."

"Giovanni and I used to date in college," said Delia. The rest of the room, save for the Rocket members and Professor oak were in total shock, as they had no idea about this. "But we broke up after only two months."

"Now what did I say about lying, Delia?" Giovanni asked. "You're dragging this out too long. But since you got this started, then I guess I'll continue it and tell the truth. We did date in college, true. But we started in our first year and ended in our second year. When Delia left school. Or was it our third year?"

"Mom, you dropped out of college?" Ash asked.

"That's not the most shocking thing about this story Ash," said Delia.

"Well, now, let's move on," Giovanni said.

--

Flashback

UCLA campus, 17 years ago

A young Delia Ketchum, age 19, hurried to her next class, Pokemon Biology. She was already late, since she woke up with about 20 minutes to go until class started. She was forced to rush through her morning rituals, which included a shower and breakfast, but that had to be postponed until later today. She bumped into a few people along the way, apologizing as she did. She really had to hurry, as there was only two minutes left until calls started. "Oh, Professor Oak will kill me if I'm late again!" She said to herself. She finally reached the classroom building where the class was held. One minute to go! She had to pick up the pace in order to get there in time. With 30 seconds left, she found herself in the hallway where the room was. Fifteen seconds! She found the door where it was and opened it—

"Ms. Ketchum," said Prof. Oak. "I'm glad you could join us, but I would appreciate it if you were less than 2 minutes late!" Delia was panting hard, having just ran from her dorm to the room.

"I'm sorry Professor, my alarm—"

"I don't take excuses for being late, Ms. Ketchum," said Prof. Oak. "Now please, take your seat. Now then, despite this little intrusion, what do you say we get started?"

_Why did my alarm clock have to choose today to stop working?_ Delia thought to herself. What was even worse was the nasty vomiting she had been dealing with for the past 3 days. She felt that she'd have to go to the doctor at some point in order to find out what exactly was going on. What was worse, she was late with her period. If what she suspected turned out to be the case… oh, dear. She didn't want to think about it, but if it did turn out to be the worst-case scenario, then she'd be in a lot of trouble.

--

"Oh, what's wrong with me?" She said to no one in particular after leaving the class. Professor Oak had given her a firm yet calm tongue lashing that excuses were for politicians going through a sex scandal. _I'm not really sure how that analogy relates my problems though_, she thought. But her problems were getting to her. She had been dealing with nasty morning sickness and she was suddenly getting a bigger appetite. While she didn't want to rule it out, she knew of the possibility that she was... oh, dear.

"Delia!" Came a voice from behind her. She turned around to see her classmate, Spencer Hale.

"Oh, hello Spencer," she said.

"Delia, why were you late today?" He asked.

"My alarm clock didn't work today," she said. "I woke up 20 minutes before class started."

"That must be bad," he said. "But you don't look so good, either."

"I think something's wrong with me," she said. "I've been having morning sickness lately."

"Oh," he said with concern on his voice. "Do you think…"

"I'm not sure right now," she said. "But I really don't want that to be the case."

"Jeez, maybe you should tell your boyfriend—what's his name?"

"Giovanni."

"Maybe you should tell Giovanni what's going on," Spencer said.

"I guess I should," she said. "Hopefully, he'll understand."

--

Later that night, Delia and her roommate Lola were studying in their dorm room when they heard a knock on their door. "Who is it?" Lola asked.

"It's me, Giovanni, let me in," came the voice from behind the door. Lola, with Delia's permission opened the door for Giovanni. "Hello Delia," he said as he entered.

"Hi Giovanni," she said in response. It was a half-assed response, one that caught Giovanni was surprised by.

"You seemed stressed Delia, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Giovanni, promise me you won't get mad if I tell you this," she said. "And close the door, I don't want anyone else besides Lola to hear this." Giovanni did as he was asked and closed the door behind him.

"Well, what is it? And I won't get mad," he said.

"I'm not sure, but I might be… I really don't want to say this,"

"Come on Delia, what is it?" Lola asked.

"Giovanni, I might be pregnant." She said. The look on her boyfriend's face was one of shock and completely blank thoughts.

"What…?" He asked after maybe a whole minute of silence.

"I've been having morning sickness and an increasing appetite for the past 3 days," said Delia. "I'm not sure if I am, but I'll need to be sure."

"Well, I guess I'll have to be supportive," he said. "I'll do what I can, babe." He went over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks, Giovanni," she said.

--

A week later, Delia brought a pregnancy test with her from Walgreen's. With Lola helping her she took the test. And to her dismay, it came up positive. But because of the possibility of error, she went to the doctor on campus. And once again, the test results came up positive. Delia's worst fears had come true. She was pregnant. Her mom and dad were furious, saying that she should have been much more careful when having sex with Giovanni. As if she didn't have enough to worry about.

But for most of her pregnancy, she and Giovanni remained close, with Giovanni actually proposing to her when she was 4 months pregnant. She said yes. But the engagement would not last. Although he was mostly kind to her, Giovanni had a dark side that Delia did not see. But Spencer did.

"Quit lying to her," Spencer said to Giovanni one day. "I know you're not as kind as you let on."

"Why Spencer, what do you mean?" Giovanni asked.

"I read your notes," Spencer said. "You talked about world domination. I'm up to your plans, Giovanni. Once I notify the FBI, you won't get to lead this 'Team Rocket' you talk about."

"You won't get anything from that," Giovanni said in response. "The FBI will think you're crazy and won't even pursue the manner. Besides, you wouldn't want to end your research on the Unown, do you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Spencer asked with venom in his voice.

"Let's just say that journal does not exist anymore," Giovanni said.

_Dammit! _Spencer thought. _I didn't go to the authorities fast enough!_

"Now if you'll excuse me," Giovanni said. "I have a date with my fiancé."

--

But Spencer was not going to give up anytime soon. Sometime later, Spencer decided to tell Delia the truth about Giovanni. If only she would believe him.

"Oh, hello Spencer," she said. "What's going on?"

"Delia, it's about Giovanni," he said with concern on his voice. "There's something about him that you should know."

"What is it?" She asked.

"A while ago, I saw some writings in his notebook," he said. "I noticed that he was writing about this group called 'Team Rocket' and world domination. Delia, I think your fiancé's a potential terrorist!"

"What?" Delia said. "Why are you saying that about Giovanni?"

"Because it's the truth, Delia!" Spencer said. "Please! Believe me!"

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Delia said. "He's always been so good to me!"

_Does he have some sort of hold on her?_ Spencer thought. Hell he decided to say it out loud. "Why won't you listen? Does he have some kind of hold over you?" He asked while grabbing her arms.

"Spencer, please! Let go of me!" Delia cried. Spencer was shocked, and then realized that he was squeezing Delia so hard that he must have been hurting her.

"Delia, I'm sorry," he said. "I just don't think Giovanni is a good person. I think he might be a megalomaniacal terrorist!"

"Well I think he's a good man Spencer," she said. "I'm sorry you have to feel that way about him." With that, she turned around and walked away, leaving Spencer behind.

"Delia, please believe me."

--

Little did Spencer know though, Delia would eventually see that he was telling the truth. It happened during her 8th month of pregnancy. That day, Delia and Giovanni were in her dorm room at UCLA. Like I said, Delia was 8 months pregnant, so her stomach would have been looked pretty swelled. "What should we name the baby?" Giovanni asked.

"I like Ash," she replied.

"Ash?"

"Well, for short," she replied. "If it's a girl, we call her Ashley, if it's a boy, we call him Ashton."

"Both are fine names," he said. "They'll sound even better when they're ruling the world," he said under his breath. But Delia heard something.

"Um, what?" She said.

"Oh, I didn't say anything," he said quickly, to cover up his statement.

"No, I certainly heard you say something, something about ruling the—oh, no."

"What is it, Delia?" Giovanni asked.

"Oh, no, you said 'ruling the world," she said. Now she was starting to catch on. "Oh no! I think Spencer was right!"

"Right about what?" Giovanni asked. His face was getting much firmer, and his dark side was starting to manifest itself.

"He said you might be a megalomaniacal terrorist!" She said. "I think he might be right!"

"Really?" Giovanni said. "He said that?"

"Please tell me he's wrong, Giovanni," she said. "Please tell me you're a kind person."

"He's not wrong," Giovanni said. "One day, I will rule the world!" Delia's face changed from one of worry to absolute shock.

"No, Giovanni, no! I don't want this!"

"You don't want this?" Giovanni said with pure malice on his voice. "How could you not want it? How could you not want to be married to the future ruler of the world!"

"Spencer was right, you _are _a terrorist! No, you're a monster!"

"You'll take that back," Giovanni said. "Or I will make you pay!"

"Never!" She said. "I don't want this Giovanni! We're through! And I'm going home to Pallet!"

"No, you're not!" Giovanni yelled. He lunged at her and grabbed her. Delia, meanwhile, screamed at the top of her lungs to get anybody's attention.

"Help me! Somebody, he's trying to hurt me!"

"Silence!" Giovanni said. "No one will save you!" Except he was wrong about that. At that moment, Spencer and Lola burst into the room and grabbed Giovanni and pulled him off Delia. Spencer then punched Giovanni and shoved him against the wall of the room while Lola rushed over to help Delia.

"Delia, are you okay?" She asked.

"He's a monster!" She said. "Spencer, you were right, he is a terrorist!"

"She's on to you Giovanni!" Spencer said. "Leave, now!" Giovanni looked at Spencer with a purely venomous look before turning around and leaving. Then Spencer went to comfort Delia, who had started crying.

"Spencer, I'm sorry," she said. "I should have listened to you. Please forgive me!"

"I do, Delia," he said. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

End flashback

--

"You bastard, you threatened my mom!?" Ash yelled once the story was finished. But at that point, Giovanni pulled a pistol on him and pointed it at him.

"I suggest you calm down Ash," Giovanni said. "You're not exactly in a position to threaten me."

"She was right to deny your relationship!" Said Misty. "You are a monster!"

"Now now, don't get testy with me, young lady!" Giovanni said. "You're not in a good position, either."

"Whatever you're up to," Brock said. "Superman will stop you!"

"Oh really? Superman?" Giovanni asked. "That fiend has been interfering with my plans for some time now! I would love to see him dead! And so have you, Ash," he said as he turned to Ash. "Your meddling has caused me a few headaches."

"Yeah, I'm glad I have," he said. "My mom was right to leave you!"

"Now, now, don't get too hostile," Giovanni said smugly. "You may not know this, but Superman can't help you or this country."

"What?" Brock said.

"What do you mean?" Asked Misty.

"As of this moment, Team Rocket military units are prepared to march on Washington, DC, London, Paris and Moscow!" Giovanni said. "Those fools in al-Qaeda are mere cavemen compared to us, and we will show them our power! We are now in position to take over the world!"

"No!" Cried Misty. Giovanni, however, pointed his gun at her, which made her sit down again.

"Now then Ash," Giovanni said. "I have a proposition for you. There's a very good chance your friends and family and possibly you will be enslaved or killed when we take over the world. However, you can avoid that."

"What are you talking about, Giovanni?" Ash said.

"If you agree to join me, then I shall give you a high position in Team Rocket… son." The eyes of the rest of the people in the room, save for Delia and Professor Oak, widened in complete shock at Giovanni's statement.

"_Son_?" Brock asked. "Ash, is he your father?"

"No way!" Ash said. "He's not my father, nor will I join him!"

"You don't have much of a choice, Ash!" Giovanni said. "I know you're my son. When I first heard about you, I realized that you were Delia's son. After our little spat, she left UCLA and returned here. I deduced she must have given birth after that, and since you were a year old when I hear she first started talking about you, I realized that you are my son."

"Even if you were my father, there's still no way I'd join you!" Ash said. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you!"

"Ah, so rash," said Giovanni. "I'm not sure whether that comes from your mother or me."

"I still won't join you!" Ash said.

"You're foolish to pass this up Ash," Giovanni said. "You're not in any position to argue with me at all." He pointed his gun at Misty.

"I won't join you," Ash said firmly.

"You will join me or I will end your friend's life here and now!" Giovanni said. Misty looked down the barrel of Giovanni's gun in sheer terror. It reminded her of the time the Rocket grunt threatened her in Summer City during that heist. Even though it was also the time she first met Superman, the reminder of that nearly traumatizing experience frightened her. But what really scared her were the words Ash said.

"I. Said. _No._" Brock, Misty, Tracey and Gary looked at Ash in a completely shocked way. What was he thinking?

"Well, then," Giovanni said. "Then I guess you don't care about your friend!" At that moment, he fired his pistol at Misty. Misty's face contorted in absolute terror. Brock tried to get up from his seat to help, but a Rocket grunt held him down, which kept him from moving. The same with Gary and Tracey, who were held back by two Rocket grunts. That only left Ash. Acting quickly, Ash got up from his seat and tried to get in front of Misty. Then, the look on his face contorted in pain and the room was filled with his painful scream before he dropped to the floor. The room was silent. Misty, Brock, Gary and Tracey looked on in horror at Ash's motionless body.

"No, no, no," Misty said, her voice shaking in terror. "_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_" The only sound in the room was her blood-curdling scream of emotional agony. She tried to get to Ash, but the Rocket grunt held in place. Tears flowed down her face as she looked at Giovanni with a mixture of sadness, pure anger and absolute hatred. "You monster! You fucking monster!"

"Don't take that attitude with me, young lady!" Giovanni said. He turned to Delia and—to his surprise, Delia and Professor Oak were perfectly calm, which surprised all of them.

"Ms. Ketchum?" Misty asked.

"Giovanni, I should probably tell you what happened after I left UCLA," she said. "A month after we broke up, I gave birth. But to my horror, the doctors told me that the child was a stillborn. They had no explanation why. After that, I got my own house, this one and lived alone for nearly a year. And then, something happened that changed my life."

"Ms. Ketchum what are you talking about?" Brock asked.

"You mean," Giovanni said, coming into realization.

"Giovanni, Ash is not your son," the rest of the room gasped in response, save for Professor Oak.

"What do you mean? Then whose is it?"

"I'll tell you," Delia said. "It happened when I was 21 years old."

--

Flashback

14 years ago

It was a lovely day out. It was probably close to 75 degrees outside, and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day for a walk. And that's just what 21-year-old Delia Ketchum was doing right now. After her baby was delivered stillborn, she suffered terrible emotional grief, something no one should have to go through. Because of that, she became something of a recluse after her baby's death. The doctors said it was a boy, and had it lived, she would have named him Ashton. But with the help of a therapist and old classmates Spencer Hale and Lola, she had begun to recover somewhat. And taking daily walks was part of that therapy. But she did not know that this walk would not only change her destiny, but the destiny of the whole world.

While she walked, she timed herself to see how long she could be outside for and feel comfortable. She checked her watch and noticed that she had been walking for 15 minutes. A pretty good time, if she said so herself. Suddenly she heard a loud noise coming from the sky. "Now what could that be?" She asked to no one in particular. She looked up and to her surprise, noticed a good-sized fireball careening from the sky and right towards her. Instantly, she hit the ground and covered her head while the object sped past her and crash-landed some good distance from her. "What was that!" She said. Quickly, she got up from the ground and ran over to the crash scene to investigate.

As she got to the crash scene, she noticed that there was a long trail that the mystery object clearly left. And there were also no fires, which surprised her. But what was even more surprising was the object itself. It didn't look like a meteorite. I looked like. Like. "Is that a rocket?" She said as she ran over to it. Certainly, once she got a closer look at it, it did indeed look like a rocket. And on the side of the rocket, she noticed strange-looking marks that looked like hieroglyphs on it. Clearly, this thing was manufactured! She put her hand to her mouth. Actual evidence of life in outer space! Once the media heard of this—but her plans ended when she heard sounds coming from the rocket. It sounded like…

"Is that a baby crying?" she asked to herself. She went over to what looked like the window, or whatever it was called, and tried to look inside, but to no avail. If only she knew how this thing work! She felt all around the rocket, looking for anything to open it with, before finally finding what felt like a button. Since this was most likely what opened it, she pressed the button. There was a hiss, and the windshield, or whatever it was, opened up to reveal—

"It _is_ a baby!" She said. Sure enough, there was a baby inside, and it looked to be about a year old. And it was crying its eyes out. Obviously it had just woken up. Something clicked in Delia, most likely her maternal instincts. _Poor thing, it doesn't have its mom with him,_ she thought. She reached in and picked up the baby, which was wrapped in a red blanket. "There, there," she said. "You don't have to cry anymore." As she held the baby, it began to calm down, especially once it looked at her. Delia smiled, as this baby was melting her heart right then and there. "Since you're here all by yourself," she said. "I guess I'll be your mama."

End flashback

--

"Ms. Ketchum?" Misty asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't fool around with me, Delia!" Giovanni said as he pointed his gun at her. "Who's the baby you found?"

"The baby's name was Kal-El. He was born on the planet Krypton in a far-away galaxy. We found this out through data disks and the hieroglyphs on the side of his spaceship," she said.

"Quit beating around the bush, Delia!" Giovanni yelled. "Who is he!?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Delia asked.

"Mrs. Ketchum what--," Brock's question was cut off when suddenly, Ash began to stir on the floor. The looks on everybody's faces changed to pure shock—with the exception of Delia and Prof. Oak—when Ash began to rise. Giovanni looked on in fear as Ash stood up and looked at him in a very dramatic way.

(Soundtrack: Daaa, da na na naaaah, daah daa naaah, daaah, da na na naaaa, DUN-da-na!)

"_I_ am," Ash said as he faced Giovanni with the most firm look imaginable. The faces of Brock, Misty, Gray, Tracey, and just about everybody else besides Delia and Prof. Oak were in complete shock. Jessie and James quivered, holding on to each other and whimpering in fear/surprise. Wasn't he dead!? Or at least just shot!?

"I… thought… he… was… dead!" Jessie said, her voice shaking.

"His real name may be Kal-El, but everybody else knows him by another name," Delia said. "Superman." The whole room gasped in shock, at the revelation of Ash's true nature.

"But… that's impossible!" Giovanni said. Jessie and James were till holding each other and shaking in fear, and the rest of the Rocket soldiers were shaking, too.

That's when Ash held out his hand and opened it—revealing the bullet Giovanni fired at Misty. It was spent, and Ash dropped it to the floor. "He _caught _it!?" Brock said in complete shock.

"Ash, I'm sorry I had to reveal it to them," Delia said.

"That's okay mom," Ash said. "Misty, are you alright?"

"Um, yes," She said. She had no idea that the person she got into so many fights with and the man who saved her life were the same person!

Ash gave her a small smile, and said, "That's good. Although I guess this explains why I've been acting different."

"You're Superman!?" Giovanni said in fear.

"I suggest you put the gun down Giovanni," Ash said.

"No!!!" Giovanni yelled as he fired his gun at Ash. But like so many times, the bullets just bounced off Ash like nothing.

Ash simply shook his head in annoyance and said, "Why must they always do this?" Giovanni continued to fire until his gun started clicking, indicating that he was out of bullets. Ash then reached for Giovanni's gun and stripped it out of his hands. Then, he squeezed the gun and crushed it like a paper cup into a ball shape before dropping it to the ground. A quick look at the other Rockets in the room made them practically piss their pants. "I suggest you all leave. _Now._"

"Um, Boss, I suggest we do what he says!" Said Jessie. Giovanni did not like the situation, and it clearly showed on his face. But with the person he thought was his son staring him down, and giving him a Look, he had no other choice.

"Retreat," he said. "We'll retreat back to base on the Rocket jet. You haven't seen the last of me!" The Rockets departed the house with their tails between their legs. About a minute later, the sounds of a jet could be heard, and Gary looked out the window just in time to see the jet take off, no doubt bound for Team Rocket's base.

"Aren't you going to go after them?" Gary asked. "They could escape easily!"

"I'm going to give them a head start," said Ash. "And I suppose I owe each of you an explanation."

"Of course you do, Mr. Ketchum!" Misty yelled. She had gone from beyond grief to angry in a matter of minutes, apparently. "Why didn't you tell us you were Superman!?"

"Don't you read comic books?" Ash said. "I _can't_ reveal my identity to anyone, otherwise my enemies would exploit that and go after you!"

"He's got a point Misty," Tracey said.

"Then I guess you have to explain for playing dead and nearly causing me a shit load of grief!" She yelled as she slapped him. She didn't know why, she just did. Of course, Ash didn't flinch one bit.

"That didn't exactly hurt," he said. "Although I suppose I deserved that."

"Of course you did!" She yelled at him. "I thought you were…" Her voice began to quiver, which confused him even more. Then, without warning, she threw her arms around his neck and began crying her eyes out. "You bastard! I thought you were dead!" She said in between sobs. To comfort her, Ash wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug, which comforted her more.

"I'm sorry I worried you," he said softly. "I just saw Giovanni shoot, and I guess I just panicked."

"I didn't expect a superhero to panic though," she said. She felt the same warmth she felt when she first had her flight with Superman—er, Ash—and during her kiss with him. Now that she knew who he was, she still couldn't believe that the cocky, hot-blooded and sometimes cowardly Ash Ketchum would be the one who saved her and other people's lives.

"I hate to interrupt your romantic moment," said Gary. "But shouldn't you be going after Giovanni, Ash?"

"You're right," Ash replied. "I've given him enough of a head start. Given the technology he has access to, it's most likely he's gotten to the Team Rocket base by now."

"Do you know where it is, though?" Tracey asked.

"Most likely," he said. "I can probably use my hearing to lock in on his location."

"Then get going," said Brock. "We'll get Pikachu out of that case, you worry about Giovanni."

"Alright then," said Ash. He turned to Misty again and said, "I have to go now, okay? I have my duty to fulfill."

"Do what you must," said Misty. "I won't stop you, this is your fight."

"Thank you Misty," he said. He let go of her and walked to the door. Tracey, Prof. Oak and Gary made a path for him while Brock freed Pikachu from his confinement. Neither of them said a word as Ash walked out the door and into the front yard. He stood there for a moment, taking a deep breath and preparing to lift off. But then he heard a voice from the doorframe.

"Ash!" He turned around to see who it was. It was Misty. She had a look on her face, as though she was worried about him. "Promise me and everybody that you'll come back alive, okay? I know this might not be the way I normally act, but we all want you to come back alive. I'm not sure if we could live without you." Ash smiled in response. Then, he walked back to the doorframe where Misty was. Then, to her amazement, he removed his ball cap and handed it to her. Because she knew how much it meant to him, to give her his hat must have meant she was very special to him. "Ash, I—" She said, but she was cut off when Ash placed his lips upon hers. She was surprised at first, but she sank into the kiss and enjoyed it as much as she could before he broke it off. He looked into her eyes and gave her a smile that told her he knew he was going to be okay. She felt hope as she looked at his face. He knew he was going to be okay, Giovanni be damned.

"I will be back, Misty," he said with a confident smile. "I promise." And with that, he took off right from the stoop in front of his house and flew into the air. Misty stood there, and watched as he turned into Superman before accelerating. As she stood there, she was filled with a sense of hope and optimism that he could stop Giovanni and save the world.

_I believe in you, Superman. No, I believe in __you__, Ash._

--

End chapter

YES!!! You have no frickin' idea how long I have been planning that scene where Ash reveals himself. For _three fucking YEARS!!!_ I have been planning that for three years! And I knew that I wanted the soundtrack as part of that! At least use the 'Superman' fanfare for that scene.


	12. The Final Battle

Ash Ketchum: Superman, chapter 11

--

Giovanni scowled in his seat in the Rocket Jet. The jet could fly close to the speed of sound, so his trip to the Rocket headquarters would only take less than 10 minutes. But he was seething because Superman, the one who had been thwarting his plans; the one who tried to stop the attack; the one who represented everything Giovanni hated: truth, justice, hope, idealism, was revealed to none other than Ash Ketchum. The prospect infuriated him to no end. He had thought Ash was his son, and instead he was his sworn enemy. He cursed his luck, but vowed to continue his plan to take over the world. His armies were still prepared to march on the world capitals and it would only be a matter of time before—

"Boss Giovanni!" Said the pilot.

"What is it?"

"There seems to be something approaching us from our 6!" What!?

"What is it!?"

"I'm checking, sir!" He said. "It's coming in fast, though! It might catch us soon!"

"Well then, try to stop it!" Giovanni yelled. "If it's Superman, I want him stalled, understand?"

"Y-y-y-yes, sir!" The pilot then switched the frequency to the Rocket fighters that were escorting Giovanni's jet. "_Attention, bogey inbound at 6 o' clock. Permission given from the Boss to shoot to kill. Repeat, permission given to shoot to kill!"_

"_Copy that!"_

"_Yessir!"_ The two fighters escorting Giovanni's jet broke formation and proceeded to make a u-turn behind Giovanni's jet and sped on towards the bogey. Superman, meanwhile, flew towards the jets. He knew they were coming after him, and he had never dealt with a jet fighter before. Obviously, this would be tricky. But he pressed on, determined to catch Giovanni before he reached the Rocket base.

"_Firing one,"_ Suddenly,, one of the fighter jets fired one of its missiles at him. He only had a split second before he could dodge the missile and he broke off quickly as the missile sped past him. But before he knew it, he noticed the missile was still following him. It must have been a guided missile and it had locked onto his heat signature! Of course, he wasn't sure how it could have locked onto him, since he wasn't a jet. But who cares!? He had a missile on his tail and two fighter jets heading right towards him. Caught between a rock and a hard place.

The problem was whether or not the missile would chase after the jets if he played his cards right. He would have to do some tricky flying to get the missile to lock on to the jet's engines. But with the jets coming in, he had a chance. The Rocket jets flew past him, and he began to make his move. He immediately flew straight up in the air to get the missile to follow him. His effort worked, and the missile was still on his 6. Now come the tricky part. He had to get the missile to chase after the jets.

Now came the harder part. How to maneuver in order to get behind the missile? If he slowed down, the missile could hit him. If he flew wrong—jeez, this was frustrating. He had to give something a shot. He flew on his back and positioned his body with the symbol on his chest facing down again. Sure enough, the missile followed him and the jets were still moving away from him. His plan had worked. Now he had to get this missile off his 6.

The jets still flew in front of him, as if they had not noticed he was behind them. Even better. He didn't know whether his plan would work, but he had to try anyway. He increased his speed to make sure he could get to them. He began gaining on the Rocket jets, and still, they appeared unaware of his presence. Now he was flying faster than the jets and within 30 seconds, he sped right past the jets. The pilots watched him zip past, surprised at his speed. That's when they noticed the missile coming. "_Inbound missile at 6 o' clock_!"

"What!?" Giovanni practically roared when he heard that his fighters were being trailed by a missile—their missile. This day was just getting more and more infuriating! And then he heard another transmission.

"_Incoming bogey at 12 o' clock!_" Indeed, Superman was now flying at high speed right towards the Rocket jets. But there was no way he'd fly through them. All he was doing was trying to distract them from the incoming missile. Once he was at the right distance, he'd break off and let the missile do its work. The jets kept flying towards him. It was like a game of Chicken; one force would have to break off at some point. And that one was Superman.

Once he was close enough, Superman broke off from his flight path. The pilots reacted by watching Superman dive down towards the ground. But then they noticed the missile was locked on to one of _them._ "The missile is locked on to one of the Rocket jets!" Said Giovanni's pilot. Giovanni was beyond furious, practically suffering a full-blown villainous breakdown.

"I HATE THAT MAN!!!" He roared. "SHOOT HIM DOWN!!! NOW!!!"

"But we don't have any guns or missiles, Boss!" said his pilot, his voice shaking in terror. "We're technically a civilian plane!" Giovanni ran his hand through his hair in anger. This man was infuriating! But then, his emotions would change. "Boss Giovanni, we have an incoming message from Headquarters!" Giovanni began to calm down, has he was beginning to suspect what was going on.

"What does it say?" He said.

"It's from Prof. Mengel," he said. Giovanni began to smirk. This must be good. "It says, 'it's ready.' That's all it says, sir."

"Well, now?" Said Giovanni. "Then this changes things. Call the pilots and tell them to break off the attack."

"Yes sir," said the pilot. "Boss to flight 2, boss to flight 2, you are to cease hostilities with bogey, repeat, you are to cease hostilities with bogey—oh, the missile just struck a Rocket jet." Giovanni growled at the loss of his jet. But a look outside showed that the pilot had bailed out.

Meanwhile, Superman watched the pilot bail out of his jet just as the missile struck the engine. The missile was gone, and now there was just one fight jet left. But to his surprise, the jet did not attack him. _What's going on?_ He thought. Instead, the jet went back to escorting Giovanni's plane. Superman decided to trail Giovanni's jet at a lower altitude to find out exactly where Giovanni was going.

He did not know Giovanni was leading him into a trap.

--

"Has he arrived yet?" Giovanni asked as he arrived at the Nevada Rocket base. There was a buzz of activity around the base because of two things: the Rocket armies poised to attack the capitals of the world, and the incoming Superman.

"Not yet, sir," said a Rocket executive. "His ETA is approximately 5 minutes."

"Good, get some defense up. We don't want him to think this is easy. And get _it _ready," he said.

"Yes sir," said the executive. Like Giovanni, he had a devilish smirk on his face. "Superman will not know what hit him."

"Good," said Giovanni. "Let him come. He won't know what hit him." Today was his day. The take over of the world, the death of his enemy, the only thing left to do was unleash his evil laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

--

"So that's where it is," Superman said to himself as he approached the Rocket base. It looked much like an Air Force and Army base, which he suspected may have been the reason why no one noticed it—it would have looked like a standard United States military base. He looked down and noticed a bevy of activity on the base. Giovanni must have arrived. And they were getting ready for his arrival. He smirked. Looks like things were going to get interesting.

The Rocket Grunts on the ground began preparing for his arrival. He wasn't expecting them to roll out the red carpet, no sir, but he wasn't expecting them to gather outside. No doubt, they'd have guns and Pokemon ready to go. He then began to decrease his altitude from what he estimated to be close to a mile above the ground. He was not going to do a nosedive, but he was going to do both a gradual and sudden descent. He could handle it.

The Rocket grunts on the ground prepared for Superman's arrival. They shook with anticipation and fear at the man's arrival. Could they handle him? "He's coming!" Came the announcement. "Get ready!" The grunts pointed their weapons to the west, which is where Superman was coming from. They saw a small speck in the distance grow closer and closer to the base, which soon began to become a noticeable shape. It was clearly Superman. They watched him approach with fearful anticipation.

Superman was getting closer. He was now 500 feet above the ground, and about a mile from the base. He continued to descend towards the base while the Rockets were still preparing for his arrival. Half a mile away, and he was now 200 feet in the air. 3/5 of a mile; 175 feet. 2/5 of a mile; 125 feet. 1/4 of a mile; 50 feet. He began to slow down. A Rocket officer readied his men. "Stand by!" He called. 500 feet from the base, and he was now 25 feet from the ground. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. Five. He reached the base. Touchdown. "_FIRE!!!!_"

All hell broke loose. Suddenly, Superman was bombarded by all kinds of small arms, artillery and all kinds of weaponry fire and Pokemon attacks.. But they did nothing. The sun was shining and it was close to 1:00 in the afternoon, when the sun was strong. With that factor, Superman was invincible. Superman stood tall and began walking towards the Rocket grunts attacking him. The weaponry bounced off of him and the only thing that could actually stop him, were missiles. But even that didn't stop him. The looks on the faces of the Rocket grunts changed to one of absolute terror at the advancing Kryptonian. Many of them broke off the attack and retreated.

"No, you fools!" Cried their commander. But his command fell on deaf ears as the Rocket resistance fell apart in front of Superman; who, by the way, was surprised at this development. He didn't expect them to break off their resistance like this! But it didn't matter. He had other things to worry about, like getting Giovanni.

With the Rocket resistance strangely crumbling in front of him, he began advancing to the main gate. And incase you're wondering, no, he was not in the main gate. Using his heat vision, he melted the gate lock and kicked the gate in. Then, resistance within the base surprised him. Figures. The Rockets wouldn't break off resistance this easily. That was only the first round of defense. Now he had to deal with a much more fierce second line of defense. And they had tanks, too. This was interesting.

In response, he bounded to one of the tanks and grabbed the turret. Then he ripped the turret from the tank and threw it to the side. A sudden jolt alerted him to another tank to his right. Again, he flew over to the tank and ripped the turret off this one, too. One by one, he tore the turrets of all 10 tanks and tossed them aside, leaving them essentially useless. Once again, the resistance crumbled around him, and he was left with no resistance at all. But he still might as well take care of the rest of them.

He focused his attention on what looked like the main structure. It was possible that the Rockets were coordinating their defense from there. He flew towards the building, while some small arms and rocket fire came his way, which he dodged. To begin with the main building, he smashed through some windows, finding himself in what looked like a planning room. Several Rocket officers were looking over maps, most likely of the World capitals. The Rocket officers reacted quickly and pulled out their guns and Pokemon, unleashing them on Superman.

Once again, all hell broke loose as Superman had to fight off Pokemon attacks and deal with small arms fire. He first proceeded to use his heat vision on some computers, which were most likely used to coordinate the attacks. Then he fought off more Pokemon attacks to take out some complex machinery, no doubt used to coordinate the base activity. He then proceeded to destroy those, too. However, one Rocket officers did sound an alarm, which Superman had to destroy. But since it was most likely the whole base knew he was here, then it didn't really matter. He'd still have to fight off enemy soldiers.

With what looked to be the control room done, he proceeded into the hallway where he was confronted by what looked to be a platoon of Rocket grunts. Once again, they let loose on him with small-arms fire and Pokemon attacks. While trying to withstand the barrage, he flew right towards the Rocket soldiers and, keeping his head down, _knocked them over like bowling pins_. "Strike!" With what looked like 24 Rockets down, he proceeded down the hallway, this time into—

Oh, dear. Superman had stumbled onto a large, gymnasium-like room, where what looked to be several hundred Rockets preparing for an attack. And they all noticed him. He may be invincible, but even he couldn't handle what looked to be _a thousand _Rocket grunts.

After escaping from that fiasco, he tried to find another area of the building. After walking down the halls for what seemed like 10 minutes, he stumbled upon a room that captured his interest. And it was locked—with a padlock! He scoffed to himself. These guys have so much advanced technology that they need a padlock? Pathetic! He used his heat vision to melt the padlock and went inside to see—and this was worse than the gym full of Rockets.

What looked to be hundreds of Pokemon, all of which had most likely been abused by some of the Team Rocket members. The rows of boxes containing the clearly despondent Pokemon were a huge shock to him. As if he didn't need this unnecessary twist, already, having known about the attacks. But then he got an idea. He could set them free and let them wreak havoc on the base, no doubt getting back at their captors and allowing him the go after Giovanni. With that thought, he freed all of the Pokemon in the room.

His plan worked perfectly, and the captive Pokemon proceeded to attack their captors with vigor. Now the Rockets were less focused on him and more focused on containing their Pokemon. But even that didn't work to well, and with the Rockets distracted, Superman proceeded to knock out the rest of the base's defenses.

That only left Giovanni. After getting out of the main building and allowing the captured Pokemon to be set free, he flew up into the air to find where Giovanni was. Using his X-ray vision, he began looking for Giovanni. He checked the hangers for Giovanni before locating him in hangar #18.

Giovanni was talking with top Rocket executives when they heard the hangar door opening. Guess who it was. "Giovanni!" he called. Giovanni smirked. He was right on time.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Superman!" he lied.

"It's over Giovanni," he said. "The base's defenses are down, and it's just you and me now."

"You forget," said Giovanni. "My armies are still ready to march on the capitals of the world. And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Damn," Superman said to himself. "You sick bastard!"

"That's not a nice thing to say!" Giovanni said. "I'd think your emotions would be compromised after I threatened to kill your adoptive mother!"

"That's not a factor," he replied. "I'm just here to stop you and your sick schemes."

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! You can't stop me!" he said. "You don't understand what you're dealing with!"

"I understand you're a sick man who needs to be brought to justice," he replied. Giovanni laughed again.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! You keep using that word 'sick'," he said. "And you'll bring me to justice? Please, your talk of justice is outdated, better suited for comic books in the 1950s! People are animals. They're rash and impulsive beings that think only for their own gain. They need to be controlled. I will do that."

"People may be animals," Superman replied. "But they're not all selfish. Humans are good people, and I believe they can become a great people! They just need the light to show the way."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Your thoughts _are _outdated!" He said. "Haven't you seen what humans can do in this decade? September 11, suicide bombings, war, terrorism genocide. These are all human acts! Why not give into those instincts? I sure have!"

"Then I will stop you," said Superman.

"If you can catch me," Giovanni said. "I will call off my armies. I will disband Team Rocket and go quietly. But first, you have to fight Team Rocket's newest mechanical creation."

"Really?" Superman said. He cracked his knuckles, eager to face this robot. It would most likely be some pathetic machine. Giovanni smirked. Superman had taken the bait! His plan was working perfectly!

"Well then Superman," he said. "I would like to introduce to you our newest creation!" He gestured to a large box behind him. Several Rockets opened the box and a cloud of smoke billowed out. Superman watched with interest. Out came a Pokemon shaped robot, which looked much like a Mewtwo. "This… is MechaMewtwo!" Well, that confirmed it. "Beautiful, isn't it, Superman? Made of the strongest metals in the world! Impervious to weapons fire! After Mewtwo went rogue on me, I had the Rocket scientists put their minds to work to create a new weapon, and well, here it is!"

"You know this won't do well against me!" Said Superman. "I'll tear it apart." Giovanni smirked. Superman was cocky.

"Well then, go ahead," he said. "But be warned it's not what you're expecting." Giovanni then got out of the way for Superman and MechaMewtwo to fight. The two combatants circled each other, looking for an opening. Then, MechaMewtwo lunged at Superman. Superman braced for the robot's impact and took the blow when the mecha slammed into him. With great force, Superman pushed the robot off of him. Then Superman went on the offensive. He charged the robot, thinking it was over. It wasn't.

Just then, the mecha opened up its chest section using two swinging panels. Superman wondered what was going on, when suddenly, a green light began to shine out of the robot's chest. Suddenly, he felt intense pain, nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath. The symptoms forced Superman to fall to the ground. The Kryptonian writhed in pain, his face contorting and wondering just what in the world was going on.

"HAHAHA!!! I told you it won't be what you're expecting!" Giovanni said. Superman looked at Giovanni with the dirtiest look imaginable. Giovanni walked over to Superman and kicked him. "Do you like it?" He said. "It's a little substance from your home world, Superman. A radioactive substance, that is. We've found that it's the only thing that can harm a Kryptonian! We call it a little something called, Kryptonite!"

"How… did… you… know?" Superman said through the pain.

"We have our ways," he replied. "Now then Superman, your time is up. Whilst I will rule over this world as global emperor! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed again as he and his executives departed the hanger for another one. Superman glared at the men as he recovered, but then, as soon as they left, the hanger doors closed on him and MechaMewtwo.

Giovanni and his executives then went to a waiting limousine, leaving Superman with MechaMewtwo. The base itself was being evacuated, as Giovanni's trap had been successful. "Get me to Las Vegas," said Giovanni as he entered the car. "We'll depart for Washington from there."

"But what if Superman defeats MechaMewtwo?" Said Cassidy. "Shouldn't we be worried about that?"

"He won't defeat MechaMewtwo," he replied. "The Kryptonite will kill him before he can even put up a fight."

Inside the hanger, Superman was kicking himself mentally. It was a trap! And he had fallen for it! He could not let himself feel arrogance, and he was paying for it. But now he had to focus on MechaMewtwo. He had to figure out what to do. Now, if this was a robotic version of Mewtwo, then it will no doubt have Mewtwo's attacks. If they managed to transfer Mewtwo's psychic powers to a robot, something that isn't exactly easy, then it should be able to use Mewtwo's attacks.

Sure enough, MechaMewtwo unleashed a Psybeam attack. Wait a minute, Mewtwo doesn't have that attack! But that thought was cleared pretty quickly, as he had to dodge said attack. In his weakened state, there was no way he could withstand that attack. He had to get into the sunlight, fast. Might as well try to lure the mechanical abomination outside. And fast. He positioned himself near the hangar door to try and trick the MechaMewtwo into smashing a hole in the door. He even gave the monster a 'bring it on' gesture. Bad idea.

Instead, Mecha Mewtwo lunged at him, grabbed him, and threw him away from the hangar door. How did that fail? Then he remembered the sufficient technology Team Rocket has access to. No doubt they gave it some artificial intelligence. "You actually tried to trick me?" it said as it advanced on him. Well, that part is confirmed. "And yes, I can read your mind." Dammit! "You won't get outside as long as I have anything to say about it!" The mechanical monster again lunged at Superman, landing a punch on the weakened Kryptonian.

"Can you beat me though?" Superman said as he struggled to get up.

"Yes, I can!" The robot yelled. Using a Psychic attack, it picked up a piece of debris and flung it at Superman. Superman dodged the debris, but was not fast enough to stop MechaMewtwo from coming in and delivering a powerful sidekick that knocked him backwards and through a window. But it was simply into another room and not outside, as he had hoped. He had to do something. If not, MechaMewtwo would run roughshod over him. He had to take his chance.

When MechaMewtwo walked into the room, Superman got up and launched himself at MechaMewtwo, The mechanized Pokemon was caught of guard by Superman's sudden attack and tried to defend itself but Superman rammed himself into the robot's chest, sending it backwards and crashing into some debris. "Impressive," said the robot. Then it used another Psychic attack and sent what looked like an airplane engine at Superman. Superman took a step to his left and dodged it, all the while trying to get close to MechaMewtwo. He needed the right time. He had to get MechaMewtwo in front of the hangar door in order for his plan to work. And he also needed to find the right time to strike.

A few more launched items, including a kitchen sink later, and Superman had MechaMewtwo right were he wanted him. Now he just had to wait for the right time to strike, when MechaMewtwo would be at his most vulnerable. And he had to be sure MechaMewtwo wasn't reading his mind. MechaMewtwo began picking up another item, no doubt to throw at him. Then he realized. Now was the perfect time to strike! He immediately launched himself at MechaMewtwo, crashing into the robot's chest. His plan worked, and the two combatants crashed through the hangar doors.

They landed outside in the Nevada sun. Now Superman could feel the sun giving him power. His weakness left and was replaced by strength. And now it was time to destroy MechaMewtwo. He launched himself at the metal creature again, this time giving it a firm punch to the face. The robot flew backwards about 20 feet before coming to a rest some distance away. Now Superman had the upper hand.

He walked firmly over to MechaMewtwo while said robot tried to get up. It opened its chest panel to expose the kryptonite, which did indeed stop Superman. For about a second. The sun was giving him enough strength to resist the Kryptonite. He shook his head and once again launched himself at MechaMewtwo, giving it a powerful roundhouse kick, which sent it flying towards another hangar. But Superman wasn't going to let it enter one, so he used his heat vision to close the doors of the nearest hangar. MechaMewtow was now at Superman's mercy.

--

Back in Pallet, Delia, Professor Oak, Brock, Gary, Tracey and Misty waited anxiously for Ash to return. There were still no reports of any other Rocket attacks, so there was still some hope. Misty was sitting by the window with a worried look on her face, looking towards the east. She was worried sick about Ash, probably the most worried of all of them. "Misty, honey?" A soft voice from behind startled her, but she knew who it was.

"What is it, Ms. Ketchum?" She asked.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Delia replied. Misty looked down at her hands, trying to think about her answer.

"Yeah, I am," she replied. "I just don't want Ash to die."

"He'll be fine," said Delia. But another look at Misty's face told another story. Delia smiled again, which made Misty a little worried.

"What is it, Ms. Ketchum?" She asked.

"You're in love with Ash, aren't you?" The question surprised Misty, who immediately blushed in response.

"N-n-n-no, it's n-n-n-not like that!" She stuttered. "I don't even—," But a good look at Delia's face told her she knew she was lying. "Then maybe I am in love with him," she said.

"I'm happy for you," she said. Misty looked at her strangely. "If there was anyone for Ash to love, I'm glad it was you."

"Really?" Misty asked, as she was actually flattered.

"Yes, he really seems to like you," she said. "He always talks about you enthusiastically. I think he might be in love with you, too." Now Misty was blushing even more, since she had no idea. Even though that kiss she shared with him earlier should have told her otherwise.

"He is?" She replied.

"I think so," Delia said. "I think you two would make a fine couple." Misty blushed again, her teenage emotions getting to her. But then she smiled, her hope in Ash once again returning. So she was in love with him. That would make their reunion all the more better.

_Come on Ash. Do it for me._

--

Back at the Rocket base, MechaMewtwo was running out of options. Superman was tossing him around like a rag doll, and the Pokemon were attacking him as well. It looked as though nothing was going right for it.

Until it remembered the Device. It mentally smirked, as it now had a way to weaken Superman. It used its radio to call the Rockets who were still on the base. "MechaMewtwo to base, MechaMewtwo to base, do you copy?"

"Copy that MechaMewtwo, was is it you need?" They replied.

"Activate the Device," it said. Giovanni had given it permission to use said Device, so it didn't matter.

"Copy that MechaMewtwo, activating Device right now." The Rockets in the control room began working on whatever it was that MechaMewtwo was talking about. "It may take some time before we get it ready."

"What are you doing, MechaMewtwo?" Superman said. "What ever it is, with won't do you any good."

"Are you positive?" He replied. He didn't get a chance to say more, because Superman delivered a powerful punch to get him to shut up. MechaMewtwo responded by using his telekinesis to send Superman back. But he recovered and once again attacked MechaMewtwo with all of his Kryptonian fury. He was getting slightly frustrated that he really hadn't done much against the robot, but he had to remember that the robot was made from some very hard metal. But thing were about to change for the worst. Suddenly, MechaMewtwo began to laugh. "What are you up to?" He said.

"Do you really want to know?" It replied. "Well to bad, because you're about to find out anyway!" The robot pointed to the hills near the base. That's when Superman heard a loud noise coming from them. He looked and saw some… thing coming out of the mountains. He watched as it unfolded into a circular fan. Then he watched in amazement as the object positioned itself over the base _and blocked out the sun_, pitching the base into nighttime in the afternoon. "Do you like it?" Said MechaMewtwo. "It's called the SunBlocker!"

"Whatever it's called," said Superman. "It won't help you anyway. I'll still beat you!" He tried to punch MechaMewtwo, but the robot opened its chest panels, exposing Superman to the Kryptonite. Superman recoiled from the robot, once again feeling the effects of the Kryptonite.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It's useless!" MechaMewtwo said. "I know you derive your power from the sun. So I had the base staff activate the SunBlocker to derive you of your power source, and then expose you to the Kryptonite!" Superman looked on in horror. How could he be so blind? "And now, you DIE!!!!"

With Superman in his weakened state, it was easy for MechaMewtwo to pick him up using his psychic powers. Superman tried to resist, but the Kryptonite was making it difficult. MechaMewtwo then, using his telekinesis, threw Superman into one of the buildings a good 20 feet away. Superman groaned in pain as he crashed into the wall. The Kryptonite had weakened him severely and it made him less impervious to pain.

"Think you can defeat me now?" MechaMewtwo said as he grabbed Superman. One Venusaur essentially disagreed with him and used a Sunny Day attack to give Superman some power. The only problem was that it didn't exactly work, what with the sun being blocked and all. MechaMewtwo responded by using a Psychic attack on it and knocking out of commission. "Pathetic being," it said.

"You monster!" Superman said. The robot didn't take too kindly to that and threw Superman again. However, one Bellossom sent a Solarbeam attack at Superman. Unlike last time, it actually worked, and Superman actually felt some of his strength return. In response, he charged MechaMewtwo and punched it hard. "It's not over yet," he said.

"Fine," said MechaMewtwo. Superman charged MechaMewtwo while the robot stood firm. The two locked their hands in struggle, trying to overpower the other. It just so happened that Superman had the upper hand here and sent MechaMewtwo back a few feet. It recovered and charged Superman. Superman blocked MechaMewtwo's next attack, but was caught off guard when it exposed him to more Kryptonite. He recoiled, but MechaMewtwo grabbed him and threw him threw the window of the building before following him in.

--

In cities across the world, people watched in nervous anticipation of Superman and MechaMewtwo's fight. When the SunBlocker appeared, it blocked the view of the base, leaving them figuratively in the dark about the fight and the news stations scrambling for a shot. Any shot. But still the people did not give up hope at all. No, they knew Superman could win and they did not despair.

--

_Damn, I should have flown_, Superman thought to himself inside the building. He had managed to elude MechaMewtwo, but he knew that the robot could easily find him at some point and attack him. Right now he needed to find something that could help him beat the robot. And he had to find it fast, because he could hear the robot approaching. He could change back into Ash, but that probably wouldn't work. MechaMewtwo would most likely identify him anyway. It didn't help that some of the doors had lead in them. Seriously, how puts lead in a building today, anyway?

Anyway, Superman had to find something. Maybe a device the Team Rocket scientists used. Especially since he was in what seemed to be the main research building, he could find a weapon to use against MechaMewtwo. Now where was the weapons room? That was cut short when he felt a strong punch on his left cheek. "_Never _let your guard down," said MechaMewtwo. It must have found him! Superman got up and punched MechaMewtwo, which the robot blocked easily. The Kryptonite must have still been affecting him. MechaMewtwo grabbed Superman and threw him into another room.

Superman groaned amongst the machinery in the room. He looked around, noticing this was a weapons room. Perfect! Now to just find a—"Oh, no you don't!" MechaMewtwo used its psychic powers again and tossed Superman out of the room. The robot followed and kicked him a little more. "The great Superman," he said mockingly. "Pathetic!"

"You're underestimating me," said Superman. "I can still beat you!"

"We shall see!"

--

"…_This just in, we're getting reports of Team Rocket armies attacking Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Berlin and Beijing. From what it looks like, Team Rocket may be launching their main assault on the capitals of the world. The militaries of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Germany and China are all putting up fierce resistance…_"

At the Ketchum house, the group watched in nervousness. "Come on Ash," Misty said softly.

"Do you think he can do it?" Brock asked.

"I hope so," said Misty. "That's the only thing we can do right now is keep our hopes up. Even if we can't actually do something."

"I hope so too Misty," said Tracey. "But right now, he's on his own, and to my knowledge, unless a miracle happens, we can't help him." Misty's and everyone else's heart sank. They were helpless to do anything other than wait for Superman/Ash to do his job. It was the worst feeling in the world right now.

_Come on, Ash._

--

"OW!!!" Superman yelled in pain was slammed against another wall by MechaMewtwo. The robot had exposed him to Kryptonite two more times, severely weakening the Kryptonian. Things were starting to look bleak. Then it just got a lot worse.

"The Rocket armies have begun attacking!" Said MechaMewtwo. "Your feeble attempts to stop Team Rocket are failing!" Superman gasped in horror.

_No!_ He thought. He had thought he could defeat MechaMewtwo by now, but the robot's use of the Kryptonite had hampered that big time. And now he was on the second floor of the research building, still trying to defeat MechaMewtwo. And failing miserably.

"Yes!" Said MechaMewtwo. "Face it, you've failed!"

"I have not yet begun to fight!" Said Superman as he charged MechaMewtwo. But in his weakened state, he missed the robot by a wide margin.

"Please," said MechaMewtwo. "You can barely even stand up!"

"That's because you've fought dirty this whole time," said Superman. "You don't expose your enemy to his weakness, and you don't cheat, either."

"You fool!" Said MechaMewtwo. "Rules are for boxing and MMA matches!" MechaMewtwo launched another Psychic attack, this time knocking him into another room, this one filled with minerals. Superman struggled to get up, but another exposure of Kryptonite prevented that. "Pathetic," said MechaMewtwo. "You're finished, Superman. You fought valiantly; I'll give you that. But you're no match for me or Team Rocket! This planet will soon be under the control of Giovanni! A new world order will arise, one with Giovanni as absolute ruler! The silly systems of communism, democracy, and republicanism will no longer matter! All will be subjected to Giovanni's system! And your friends will be killed, or possibly enslaved!"

Superman glared at MechaMewtwo. There was no way he was going to let that happen! He had to stop this! He did his best to stand up, but the leftover pain from the Kryptonite exposure made such an action difficult to do. And all the while, MechaMewtwo was standing over him, shaking his head at his failure. He felt MechaMewtwo kick him in the chest once again, feeling the pain of the robot's metal foot. He _had _to do something! He _had _to fight back! But in his weakened state, it was nearly impossible. It seemed like he himself had run out of hope. There was no way to defeat this thing.

Then, it happened. He had no idea why it happened, it just _did_. For no reason what so ever, he began hearing voices. Almost like he was going crazy. Was this an effect of the Kryptonite?

"_Please, somebody help us…"_

"_We need your help…"_

"We know you can do it…"

The voices penetrated his head. It wasn't like a mind rape, but it was more like a mind healing. These people were in desperate need! They kept on saying the same thing, over and over again,

"_Help us…"_

"_Save us…_"

"_Protect us_…"

"_Superman…_"

Then he realized. These people were calling for _him_! All this time, he had no idea what he was. He thought he was just helping people, and nothing else. Just being a good person. He had no idea that people looked to him this way.

"_Superman…"_

"_Superman…"_

"_Superman…"_

He realized something. These people saw him as a symbol of hope! No, more than that! As the embodiment of hope! It may sound cheesy, but that's the way it was. He could hear them. Millions—no, _billions_—of people calling his name out for help. He had to stop Team Rocket, for all the people of the world. He had to do it for _them_. But there was one voice that stood out among all the others.

"_You can do it. I believe in you, Superman. No, I believe in __you__, Ash…_"

_Misty…_ He looked at MechaMewtwo. There was no way he was going to lose this fight! He was going to win--for the whole world. He was going to win--for humanity. He was going to win--_For Misty_. With the people of the world giving him mental strength, he began to rise from the ground. The pain was intense, but he knew he could stand up. Slowly, but surely, he stood up, and stood tall before MechaMewtwo.

"So you've stood up," it said. "Impressive. But that still won't save you!" The robot lunged at Superman, but he blocked the robot's attack. The robot's arm smashed a glass containing some blue rocks. One such rock landed near him. Suddenly, he felt his strength return and the pain subside. Could this rock be the reason? He had no time to think about that as MechaMewtwo once again lunged at him. "DIE!!!"

Without thinking, he grabbed the rock. MechaMewtwo grabbed his neck and started to squeeze, trying to strangle him. But with the rock giving his strength back, it wasn't working. Superman then grabbed the robot's head and began squeezing as well. MechaMewtwo then opened its chest panels, exposing Superman to the Kryptonite.

"You, will, DIE!!!" It yelled and squeezed. The blue rock was doing its job, and Superman could barely feel the effects of the Kryptonite. Whatever this stuff was, it was a miracle worker. He squeezed the robot's head harder, hoping this would be it. MechaMewtwo then noticed the blue rock in his hand. "What!?" Suddenly, cracks began to appear on the robot's head. "No! DIE, SUPERMAN, DIE!!!" It began to squeeze Superman's neck harder, and keeping its chest panels open.

Superman kept squeezing the robot's head, while MechaMewtwo continued to strangle him. Superman began feeling his breath shorten, and the robot had a death grip on him. At the same time, more tiny cracks appeared on the robot's head. Superman almost screamed from the pain of MechaMewtwo's grip. At the same time, MechaMewtwo was groaning from its exertion. It would only be a matter of time before one combatant fell.

The cracks continued to form in MechaMewtwo's robotic skull. With its advanced AI, it to, could feel the pain of its head being crushed. But that's all it was. Artificial. Fake. It wasn't real. And it had to be destroyed. It was a mockery to all Pokemon everywhere. Superman continued to squeeze. The Kryptonite and the blue rock were offsetting each other. And still, MechaMewtwo squeezed, Superman's neck. It was close to victory. Until—

Crack... crack… crack… crack… SMASH!!! Then, Superman squeezed with all his remaining strength. With the squeeze of his hand, the robot's head crumpled in on itself. Superman had crushed its head. With that, Superman grabbed the robot's arm and smashed it, as well. MechaMewtwo fell to the ground as sparks flew out of its skull.

It was defeated.

Superman took a deep breath. A welcome breath, as it was needed after the robot nearly strangled him to death. But the Kryptonite was still exposed. So, he walked over to the robot's body and closed its chest panels. Using his heat vision, he sealed the robot's chest shut. It was over.

--

He carried the robot's body out of the research building, where all the freed Pokemon had been waiting. He placed the robot on the ground and said, "Do what you want with it. It's dead." With that, all the Pokemon instantly began cheering. Superman was victorious. But he was not done yet. There was the matter of Giovanni. But first, he needed to find out where he was, get his strength back, etc.

First, he flew up towards the SunBlocker. Since MechaMewtwo was dead, he didn't have to worry about it chasing him. He flew high and higher until finally, he smashed through the SunBlocer. Instantly, he could feel the light of the sun giving him his strength back. At the same time, he noticed the newscopters. He gave them a quick salute.

--

"_What is that?"_

"_What?"_

"_Look, in the sky! It's a bird!"_

"_It's a plane."_

"_No, it's—,"_

"_SUPERMAN!!!"_

"_Unbelievable, look at this! It's Superman, he just smashed through the device blocking off the base! He's won! This is unbelievable!"_

Around the world, as soon as people saw what had happened, they erupted in cheers. Superman had won! He had beaten MechaMewtwo! All around the world, people celebrated. Church, shrine and temple bells were wrung. People chanted his name over and over again. The world was saved!

--

In Pallet, they cheered too. Misty was probably the one who cheered the most. Most of the group there was surprised at this, but Delia was not. She knew how Misty felt about him. They could hear outside, people cheering as well. They could also hear the chants of "_Su-per-man! Su-per-man! Su-per-man!"_

"Way to go, Ash!" Cried Misty. For some reason, there were tears in her eyes. "I knew you could do it, I knew you could!"

--

But Superman wasn't don yet. First, he had to take care of the SunBlocker. With his renewed strength, he grabbed the SunBlocker, tore it off and discarded it like a piece of trash. Now he had to get the armies to surrender. Immediately, he flew towards the base again, looking for wherever the attacks were being coordinated. And he found them in one of the buildings that he had failed to clear out.

Inside, Rocket officers watched the troop movements. The Rocket armies were doing well, with Moscow close to falling and Washington and London having been close to 25% captured. However, their activities ended when they heard a loud crash. They looked to see Superman standing in the room. They all pulled their weapons out, but Superman walked over to the highest-ranking Rocket officer. He grabbed the man and lifted him off the ground. "Call off the attacks _now_." He said firmly. The Rocket officer knew he wasn't kidding around.

"B-b-b-but I c-c-c-can't do that!" He said. "Only Giovanni has that authority."

Superman grabbed him with his other hand. He brought the man to eye level and said _very _firmly, "Then. Where. Is. He?"

--

To be continued

--

I'm sorry I had to cut you off there, but, ONE CHAPTER LEFT!!! FUCK YEAH!!! IT'S ALMOST OVER!!! And better yet, SUPERMAN WON!!!! But what about Giovanni? Well, then you'll have to stay tuned for that!


	13. Victory

Ash Ketchum: Superman, chapter 12 (Final chapter)

--

Giovanni smiled as he flew over Utah. When he last heard, his armies were close to capturing Moscow, and Washington and London were almost a quarter of the way conquered. He sipped his glass of celebratory champagne along with the Rocket Executives, who were all toasting each other on a job well done. The private plane had taken off from Las Vegas and was traveling at a high speed towards Washington so Giovanni could accept the surrender of the President of the United States personally. All was going well in his plan. Even Superman was failing. The last he heard, MechaMewtwo had activated the SunBlocker. No doubt that would help kill Superman. Yes, things were going well.

Until now. Suddenly, the pilot could be heard over the PA. "Um, Giovanni s-s-s-sir?"

"What is it, pilot?" He said with an annoyed tone.

"T-t-t-t-there's a b-b-b-bogey inbound at 7 o'clock."

Giovanni instantly spit out his champagne. "WHAT!?" He yelled. "What is it!?"

"I don't know, sir!" Said the pilot. "But it's coming in at a high speed!"

"Where are those Rocket fighters!?" He shouted. "Shoot it down, NOW!!!!"

"B-b-b-but the Rocket fighters are off attacking other cities!" Said the pilot. "We're not even being escorted." Giovanni was _not _happy about this one bit. In a fit of rage, he threw his champagne glass at another part of the cabin.

"THAT BASTAAAARRRRRDDDD!!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. All of his plans had failed! Even with the attacks so far a success, the fool had still beaten his robot! His greatest creation! "Get something out there! NOW!!!!"

"Y-y-yes sir!" Said the pilot. "We have a Salamence we can use."

"UNLEASH IT!!! _**NOW!!!!!**_"

"Yessir!" The pilot pulled a lever in the cockpit. Outside, the cargo bay door opened, releasing a lone Poke Ball. The ball opened up to reveal a Salamence. The Dragon-type Pokemon roared, and once given a command through a chip, it flew towards the bogey.

Superman noticed the Salamence coming and tried to dodge when the dragon unleashed its Hyper Beam attack. Then the two combatants flew right past each other before the Salamence made a u-turn and came right at Superman again. Now Superman did not want to harm the Salamence. One kick or punch from him and he could easily kill it. And he didn't want that to happen. Of course, he could go easy on it and just knock it out. He might as well use his breath to blow it out of the sky—literally.

So he took a deep breath and blew at the Salamence. The Salamence tried to resist, but the force of Superman's breth was too much and the dragon Pokemon was hurled down toward the Utah Mountains. Superman didn't have to worry, as the Salamance did indeed recover and flew away. Now all he had left to deal with was Giovanni.

"Sir, the Salamence has been blown away!" Said the pilot. "Literally!" Giovanni growled again, his face contorting in pure rage and anger.

"Anything else?" He said forcefully.

"We do have an Aerodactyl," said the pilot. "We can use that."

"Do. It." Giovanni said again. The pilot pulled the same lever and another Poke Ball, this one containing an Aerodactyl was released. The Aerodactyl, once released, roared and flew after Superman.

Superman shook his head in exasperation. Just how desperate was Giovanni anyway? The Aerodactyl charged him and used a Wing Attack on him. The attack missed and Superman grabbed the stone-age Pokemon by the tail. Then, much to the Pokemon's dismay, began to swing it around in a circle and then released it, sending it flying away. The Pokemon also recovered and flew away.

"Sir, he defeated the Aerodactyl." Giovanni roared in anger, as he was suffering a full-blown meltdown. The other Rocket executives in the plane were getting really uncomfortable being around him.

"I am going to KILL SOMEONE!!!" He screamed. He was about to do so when suddenly, there was a jolt that shook the cabin. The passengers were knocked around for a second before they managed to recover. They all looked at each other in confusion, and Giovanni said, "Pilot! What happened?"

"I don't know, sir!" He replied. "We just hit some turbulence and—Oh, no."

"What is it?" Giovanni said.

"Um, sir," he said, shakily at first. "We've started to go off course!"

"WHAT!?" He roared. "What's happening!?" None of them had any idea, but outside, the culprit for their sudden change of course was shown: Superman was holding the bottom of the fuselage and was now redirecting the plane away from its destination of Washington, and to another location. Inside the cabin, Giovanni came to the correct conclusion as to whom it was. "That BASTARD!!!" HE screamed. "How dare he!" But things were getting worse for Giovanni. A lot worse.

"Um, sir?" Said the pilot, his voice shaky. "We just got some bad news."

"What is it?" Said Giovanni. He covered up his face with his palm and sat back down. He had enough of bad news already, so how could it get worse? He was about to find out.

"We've got reports in from the capital attacks, sir," he said. Giovanni uncovered his right eye as he listened. "The Washington and London forces are experiencing tougher resistance. They've already begun falling back. The Paris and Beijing forces are going nowhere and the Berlin forces are being soundly defeated. I think the tide may have turned against us."

Giovanni growled again. Then, he let loose a loud roar throughout the cabin that even Superman managed to hear outside. "THIS CANNOT _**BE!!!!**_ HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED!? THOSE MISERABLE GENETICISTS! WHEN I GET MAY HANDS ON THEM, I'LL STRANGLE EVERY BREATH OF LIFE _**OUT OF THEM!!!!**_"

"I don't know if you should be blaming the geneticists, Boss," said Cassidy, who was in the plane with him. "But I know exactly who you can blame for this. That blue-clad goody-two shoes!"

"Um, I'm not sure if this is a good time," said James, with a shaky voice. "But I think I want out of Team Rocket now." The rest of the passengers looked at him in shock. A defector? Impossible! Then, Jesse said,

"I want out too." Then other Team Rocket members, not the executives, began saying the wanted out of the organization. Instead of going on a tirade against them, Giovanni instead began to slide down in his chair. What had begun as his day of glory was turning into a nightmare as his dreams of world domination were beginning to slip away from him in a heart beat. There was no way around it—Team Rocket was crumbling.

"Sir," said the pilot.

"What?" Giovanni responded.

"We've found our course," he said.

"Where are we going?" Giovanni replied.

"We're bound for Florence, Colorado."

--

Giovanni and the rest of the passengers watched as the plane descended to the ground quickly. With Superman guiding the plane, they were not in any danger of crashing, but their destination was what worried them. They seemed to be headed for the ADX Florence, AKA Colorado Supermax, the closest one around. The prison housed some of the worst criminals and terrorists in United States history, like Ramzi Yousef, the man behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Ted Kaczinski, the Unabomber, and many other, including the now-executed Timothy McVeigh. Whether or not Giovanni would end up there is another story. As the plane descended, they could see federal soldiers and prison guards rushing to the possible site where Superman was going to set them down.

Seeing them, Superman guided the plane to a spot just outside the prison walls where the federal troops were gathering. Then, he got out from under the fuselage and got on top of it, and began gently pushing it down, while keeping a grip on it. Slowly, the plane descended and Superman gently laid it out the ground, but hard enough that the passengers inside could feel a slight impact.

Once he was done, Superman flew over to the door and tore it off its hinges. The cabin had lost its pressurization, so there were no problems when he ripped the door off. Then, he stepped inside the cabin. The Rocket executives and members all looked at him with fear in their eyes. But he wasn't focusing on them. Once he spotted Giovanni, he walked over to him, unflinching. Giovanni panicked for some reason, and began cowering away from Superman, trying to think of away to escape. But then, he got a look on his face that said, 'oh crap' when he realized something: He had run out of ideas. And now, he was at the mercy of Superman, who was giving him a glare that if looks could kill, Giovanni would be dead by now.

"Please! Don't kill me, I'll—," Giovanni didn't get to finish his sentence when Superman picked him up by the collar and lifted him in the air. "Please don't kill me!" The once proud man was begging for his life. Disgusting.

"You threatened my adoptive mother," Superman said with venom in his voice. "You threatened to kill the woman I love—_twice_. You tried to kill me. You threatened my friends. You abused countless innocent Pokemon. And worst of all, you may have killed thousands, if not millions of people. What makes you think I won't kill you?" The rest of the passengers gasped. Superman would kill someone? Unheard of!

"No, please! I'll do anything!" He said. "ANYTHING!!!"

"Pathetic," said Superman. But then his face relaxed. "But I won't kill you. If I do, then I will be just as bad as you are. And I don't want to be that." Giovanni let out a sigh of relief, but Superman wasn't done. "But I want you to do this," he said.

"Anything!" Giovanni said.

"First, call all Team Rocket soldiers and members and tell them to lay down their weapons and surrender," he said.

"Um, excuse me Mr. Superman," Jesse said nervously. "But what about those who defected?"

"Correction," he said. 'Call the base and order all Team Rocket members who have not defected to lay down their arms and surrender. And that includes the armies attacking the cities."

"Yes, I will," Giovanni said.

"_Now._" Superman said. Giovanni didn't want to mess with Superman, so he called for a radio to the main Rocket base.

"This is Giovanni," he said once he was connected to the base and all other Team Rocket members. "I hereby order all Team Rocket members who have not yet defected to lay down their arms and surrender. Repeat, I order all Team Rocket members who have not yet defected to lay down their arms and surrender. That is all."

"Now then," said Superman. I want you to connect to the Pentagon and tell them that Team Rocket surrenders unconditionally. Giovanni did just that.

"This is Giovanni of Team Rocket," he said once he was connected to the Pentagon. "I hereby declare the unconditional surrender of Team Rocket. I repeat, I declare the unconditional surrender of Team Rocket. That is all." He put down his receiver and said, "What else do you want from me?"

"I want you to personally surrender to the authorities," he said. "Then, I want you to plead guilty for whatever charges they bring up. Is that understood?"

"Yes, that is understood," said Giovanni. "And I suppose all my executives must surrender as well."

"Correct," said Superman. Giovanni nodded and Superman set him down while federal troops entered the plane. The Rocket executives who had not defected raised their hands in surrender. The ones who said they had defected were lead out of the plane. Giovanni was left in his seat with his face in his hands.

"It's over," he said silently. "This is the end of Team Rocket."

Once he was out of the plane—he came last—Superman was instantly greeted by cheering United States soldiers and Colorado National Guardsmen. He smiled, feeling the satisfaction of a job well done. The prison warden came over to him and said,

"Thank you Superman. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Oh don't thank me," he replied. "We're all part of the same team. Now if you'll excuse me, there's someplace I need to be." And with that, he took off and flew back to the west.

--

All around the world, the Team Rocket members surrendered to the authorities. In Moscow, Washington, London, Berlin, Paris and Beijing they all laid down their weapons and surrendered without a fight. The people of the world celebrated the defeat of Team Rocket, much like they celebrated when Superman defeated MechaMewtwo.

--

And in Pallet Town, the reaction was no different. "HE DID IT!! HE DID IT!!!" Yelled Brock. The house was filled with the cheers of Ash's family and friends, all reacting to the surrender of Team Rocket. They knew the menace of Team Rocket was no more. Now there could be peace at last on their journey. But one was crying—Misty.

No, it wasn't tears of sorrow. They were tears of joy! Hell, she was smiling and laughing, too! "I knew you could do it Ash," she said. "I knew you could!"

"We've gotta celebrate!" Said Brock. "Who's up for some champagne?"

"Are you kidding me, we're underage!" Said Gary. The rest of the group laughed in response.

"How about non-alcoholic champagne instead?" Said Tracey.

"I like that idea!" Said Misty.

"Yeah, let's get some of that!" Said Gary.

"I know a neighbor who has some!" Said Delia.

"Pika!" Pikachu added his two cents, having been ignored for too long. The group got their NA-champagne and had a short dinner to celebrate Ash's victory. Afterwards, the group watched more news coverage of the event, including Giovanni's arrest and Jesse, James, Meowth, Butch and other Team Rocket members who defected essentially get acquitted. Except there was still they'd have to face trial and still get sentenced to community service. Obviously, it didn't matter.

Right now, Misty watched the eastern sky for Ash. It had been nearly 30 minutes, so he should have been there by now. But Delia told her that he was most likely in Colorado, so it would have taken him a while to get to Pallet Town from there. "Why don't you relax?" Said Delia.

"Okay," said Misty. She turned away from the window before noticing something out of the corner of her eye. "Wait, up in the sky, what is that?" She said as she looked to the window.

"It's a bird," said Gary in a deadpan tone.

"It's a plane," said Brock, also in a disinterested tone. But Tracey wasn't so sure.

"No, it's—,"

"It's Superman!" Said Misty with a look of absolute joy on her face.

"_What!?"_ Said Brock and Gary. They immediately ran over to the window and looked out. Sure enough, it was Ash.

"It _is _him!" Said Misty. She immediately got up and ran for the door. Gary and Brock tried to restrain her, though, much to Delia's chagrin. "Goddamit, let go of me!" Misty said while trying to escape their grip.

"Just let her go," said Delia. "She has her own reasons." The two looked at Delia with confused looks on their faces. That gave Misty enough time to open the door and escape. The two tried to go after her again, but Delia grabbed their collars. "Oh, no you don't!" She said. "I don't even get why you're doing this!"

"But Ms. Ketchum—," Borck said, trying to explain. He was cut off by Delia.

"No buts!" She replied. "Let those two have their moment!" Gary and Brock looked confused until she pointed outside to Misty.

Misty ran as hard as she could to Superman. He was coming down faster and fasted, and it looked as though he was changing back into Ash just as he was getting closer. "Hey, Misty!" He called as he approached.

"Ash!" Misty called as tears formed in her eye. Quickly, Ash descended faster until he positioned his body for a soft landing. He hit the ground running, right to Misty. The two ran to each other before meeting. Misty ran right into his arms and he wrapped them around her. She was running hard enough that she almost knocked him over, but he recovered and he spun her around a few times, while the two laughed together.

"You magnificent bastard!" She said when they were done. "I knew you could do it, I _knew _you could!"

"Gee, thanks, Misty!" He said. He was even Ash in personality! The two held each other for a while longer before things began to settle down a bit. Slowly, they let go of each other and looked at each other with loving smiles. Then Misty said,

"Hey Ash, since you already kissed me twice, maybe I should return the favor." Ash smiled and said,

"Sure, Misty." The two leaned into each other and for the third time, their lips met--

For less then a nanosecond. They were interrupted when they heard sounds coming from the Ketchum house. They looked to see Brock, Gary, Tracey and Pikachu running right towards them.

"Ash!" Called Brock as he waved. Ash also waved, and the three of them came and all four gave Ash a group hug like when a baseball team wins the World Series while he pumped his fist in the air. He could feel Brock rubbing his head and Pikachu coming up to greet him.

"You did it, man, you did it!" Said Brock.

"You magnificent bastard!" Said Gary. "I'll never hate you again!"

"Thanks, guys!" He said. Soon, that calmed down as well and the four got off of him. "Hey guys, I'll meet you back at the house, okay?" He said.

"Okay, sure thing, buddy!" Said Brock. The three other guys then went back to the Ketchum house, hooting and hollering all the while. That just left Ash and Misty. After their romantic moment had been ruined, it seemed like things would end. But not as long as Misty had anything to say about it.

"Hey Ash?" She said.

"What, Misty?" He replied.

"Remember when we went flying in Summer City?" She asked. "The night after Superman—I mean, you first saved me?"

"How could I forget?" he replied. "It was one of the best nights of my life."

"Well, what if we did it again?" She said. "You and me go flying?"

"Do you want me to change back into Superman?" He asked.

"No, just you and me," she said. "Just Ash and Misty." She wrapped her arms around his neck as she said that. He smiled and said.

"Okay. Grab on to my arm, okay?" She did so and he grabbed on to hers. "Ready? One, two, _three_!" When he said 'three', he lifted off right from that spot. Misty gasped for a moment before recovering and now she was smiling as wide as possible as she and Ash flew up into the air.

And once again, she was amazed once up in the air. She felt free as a bird—no, free as Ash. She spread her arms out like a bird while Ash held tightly. She felt the wind in her face and nothing else. She didn't care how high she was, only the fact that she was with him and him alone. And unlike last time, where it was simple awe, now she was beyond thrilled to be flying with Ash.

They had a little problem when they encountered a flock of birds, but it didn't really matter much. Just a little scare, that's all, nothing to be worried about. Ash held on to her left arm with his left arm and had his right arm around her stomach to keep her with him. And just like the last time, she couldn't help but feel it was the most romantic thing ever done. And once again, she thought the same thing.

Can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are. Just a friend from another star. Here I am, like a kid out of school. Holding hands with a god. I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering. Like a little girl, shivering. You can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are... all the wonderful things you are. You can fly. You belong in the sky. You and I... could belong to each other. If you need a friend... I'm the one to fly to. If you need to be loved... here I am. Read my mind.

"What are you thinking about he asked?" She blushed and stammered, thinking he _was _indeed reading her mind.

"Oh, um, I was wondering if you could read my mind," she blurted out. She really didn't want to say that.

"I can't read minds, Misty," he replied. That answered that question. "But I can tell you're enjoying this."

"Of course I am!" She said. "I love this!"

"That's great!" He said. "And, about that kiss you wanted to give me," he said. He stopped in mid-air and she shifted in his arms. Now she was indeed in his embrace. It was just them and only them in the sky. There was no one else to ignore them. No one else to bother them. No one else to stop them now.

"I do owe you a kiss," she said as she leaned into him. He did the same and their lips met. They felt each other's soft lips on their own, and how great it felt. It was like an ice cream sundae and a Hershey bar combined. Okay, that was a little silly, but they're teenagers, for cryin' out loud! Anyway, they continued the kiss, ignoring all the things around them. It started to get a little heated before Ash broke it off, much to Misty's displeasure. "Oh, why'd you stop?" She pouted.

"So we can fly more!" He said eagerly. That was a good enough answer for her. So, he positioned Misty so she could hold onto him better and took off, this time going faster.

Misty felt the speed of their flight with a wide smile on her face. She was screaming like she was on a roller coaster. Hell, it felt like one, too! It felt like the best roller coaster in the world! So this must be how Ash felt when he flew! "This is incredible!" She shouted.

"It sure is!" His super-hearing was able to understand what she was saying. The two continued their romantic flight for a while longer before they eventually returned to Pallet Town. Misty felt dismayed when they touched down on the ground.

"Oh, I was having too—what's wrong, Ash?" Now Ash was looking kind of dismayed himself. She gave him a look of concern and put her hand on his cheek. 'What is it?"

"I'll have to erase your memory," he said. Misty's eyes widened in shock. What did he just say?

"You have to _what!?_" She said in shock.

"I have to erase your memory," he said. She was not happy about it one bit and she let him know it.

"No way!" She said. "You're not erasing my mem—," She was cut off when Ash kissed her again. She could barely react when he pulled away.

"Misty, I love you more than anything," he said. She wasn't stunned, but it certainly did surprise her. "That's why I have to erase your memory of me as Superman." Oh, so that's it.

"What do you mean, Ash?" She said.

"You know the rules," he said. "I can't risk you knowing about my secret identity right now. If I let you keep your memory of me as Superman, then I could risk my enemies finding out and attacking you. Please, do this for me, Misty." A look at his face showed that he had tears in his eyes. It was obvious to her that she meant so much to him that he'd risk their love just to protect her.

"I don't know what to say," she said. She was confused about what to do. Should she go with it? And risk her feelings for him?

"Did you love me before you knew I was Superman?" He asked. Then she thought about it and realized. She _was _in love with him! And all this time, she didn't know it!

"I did," she said. "So I won't risk my feelings for you," she said. "But please, promise me," she pleaded. "Tell me you love me after you erase my memory. Please. Or at least kiss me." Ash smiled at her.

"I will," he said. "You don't have to worry. All my mom will do is erase the memories up until now of Giovanni threatening you and everyone else. She'll probably just give you false memories. Do you think you can handle that?" Misty nodded. As much as she hated to do this, she would do it anyway. Besides, there was still the possibility Ash would tell her his feelings, right?

"Okay then," she said. She gave him one last hug before going back in the house to see Delia. Ash stayed outside to wait for her,

"Okay, is everybody ready?" She said. She held in her hand a device that looked like a pen, but had what looked like a red light at the top. She was wearing sunglasses for some reason. Brock, Gary, Tracey and Misty lined up in front of the device. Professor Oak had left earlier to check up on his Pokemon. "Okay, I want everyone to look at this," she said. All four of them looked at the spot where she pointed at. Misty was beginning to have second thoughts, but since Ash asked her to do this, she was doing it anyway. "Okay, three, two…"

_I love you too, Ash_. She thought just before Delia said 'one'. There was a blinding flash and suddenly, Misty was standing in Ash's house. How did she get here?

"Well," said Delia. "You all saw Superman win, right?" She said. She went on to tell them what happened. "After Team Rocket started attacking, Ash brought Brock and Misty here yesterday while Gary and Tracey arrived today. You all watched Superman win his fight with MechaMewtwo and save the world!"

"Damn, that was awesome!" Said Gary, his fake memories kicking in. "I can't believe that son-of-a-bitch!"

"And when he burst through the SunBlocker, that was amazing!" Said Brock. Delia smiled. The selective memory eraser worked!

_They remembered the details,_ she thought. _That's good, I won't have to tell them anything else. Just as long as Ash keeps his promise to Misty._

"Hey guys, I'm back!" Ash said as he came through the door, "I just went over to Professor Oak's lab for a little bit. What happened?"

"Superman won!" Said Misty. "It was unbelievable!" Ash pretended to be stunned. Apparently, the device had worked. Now he'd have to keep his promise.

"Oh, wow!" He said. "That must have been awesome!"

"You're darn right, it was!" She replied. "Thanks for letting us stay here, Ms. Ketchum!"

"No problem," she replied as she smiled. "You kids take care now, okay?"

"Oh man, that's right!" Ash said. "We need to get going on our journey again!" Suddenly, he bolted upstairs, grabbed his backpack and hurried back down. "Come on, Pikachu!" He said.

"Pika!" The little mouse cheered as it followed him. Misty and Brock reacted quickly.

"Hey, wait up, Ash!" Said Brock as he grabbed his backpack.

"You'd better not leave without me!" Said Misty as she grabbed her bag and Togepi before rushing out the door to chase after Ash. He was already a good 50 feet away by the time they got out of the house and had to hurry up to catch him.

"Come on guys, hurry it up!" He called to them before hurrying up. He smiled a bit, thinking about what had just happened. Sure, he hated to see his friends lose their memories of this and Misty forgetting about his feelings for her—wait, he could fulfill that promise right now! He stopped right these and waited for the two to catch up to him. His two companions panted heavily, as they were not pleased he had done that.

"Next time, wait for us!" Said Brock.

"Sorry guys," he replied. Then he said, "Um, Brock, you can go on ahead first." Brock looked at him strangely before doing so, muttering about Ash keeping secrets or something. That just left him and Misty.

"Ash, what are you doing?" She said. She didn't have time to consider that, because all of a sudden, she felt his lips on hers. She was at first stunned, but she settled into the kiss, eventually kissing back. For some strange reason, she felt this was all so familiar. But she didn't think about it, anyway. Then, Ash broke off the kiss and gave Misty a warm, gentle, confident smile that seemed very familiar for some reason. Then, she leaned in to Ash's ear, and very quietly whispered something to him. The look on his face changed to one of surprise, before he smiled again. When she stopped whispering, she said,

"You're a strange person, you kn—hey, wait!" Suddenly, Ash had taken off again, much to her chagrin. "Come back here, Ash Ketchum, you're going to explain to me what's going on right now!"

As she chased him, Ash thought about his experiences these past one or two months. He had saved the girl he loved, went flying with her, saved a woman from dying, stopped three heists, saved a bus, stopped an attack, saved the girl he loved, _again_, defeated a nigh-unbeatable robot and saved the world. Not too shabby for a rookie superhero.

But now, he would focus on his journey of becoming a Pokemon Master and possibly getting into a relationship with Misty. As he left Pallet Town, he thought about the road ahead and where it would take him. He could not wait to see what was ahead in life and he would surely seize those moments that challenged him.

For he was no ordinary Pokemon trainer. He was Ash Ketchum, also known as Kal-El, the last son of Krypton. And will now be better known to the world by another, singular name:

Superman.

--

IT'S OVER!!! FINALLY, 3 YEARS IN THE MAKING, IT'S FINALLY OVER!!!!

Yes, I know you may be disappointed with that ending, but hey, it's not the end. No, it's just the beginning. Why? Here's why: I'd like to announce that there is indeed a SEQUEL!!! That's right, there's a sequel coming soon! And it will be awesome! And there might be one, final, bonus chapter.

But if you want me to, I can make an AAML one-shot to make you happy if you didn't like what happened. Although that kiss at the end might be good enough for now.

And what did Misty whisper to Ash? Well, I'm not talking! You'll have to find out yourself!

Reviews would be appreciated.


	14. Epilogue: An Open Letter

"AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

From: A Friend

Hello. I may not know you, but you know me. I am the one who defeated MechaMewtwo. I am the one who stopped Team Rocket. I am the one who stopped Giovanni. I am the one who saved the world from enslavement. I am Superman.

I must thank you all for what you have done for me. I am glad you have appreciated my services so much. I have helped you before. And although my career so far has been short, I have already accomplished something most heroes spend their whole lives trying to accomplish. Even though prior to that, all I did was save a few people from certain death. Although that itself isn't too bad.

But what is the purpose for writing this, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. But first, I must say one thing:

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You gave me the strength I needed to defeat MechaMewtwo and save the world. You gave me the strength to defeat my enemies. You are as much a part in this as I am.

But now I must deliver words that no doubt you will not like: I must go now. I am retiring for now. Why, you might ask? The reason is simple: I am merely a, as some of you call it, a 'rookie' superhero. This battle against Team Rocket was my first. And now, I must retire for now to hone my skills.

But I am not leaving you forever. No, I will return someday. I promise. And when that happens, you will no longer have to live in fear of the dark. I will return. Someday.

Sincerely, Superman."

In a dark office, a dark figure put down an old, worn-out newspaper. It was obviously several years old. "It's been years, Superman," the figure said in a sinister voice. "But my party's just beginning, Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha AH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Coming soon: _Ash Ketchum: Man of Steel_


End file.
